Sorry Sorry, For Making Your Life a Living Hell
by CaptainOats2TheRescue
Summary: Summer sees the reason why Seth sailed away on his boat. Set at the beginning of Season 2. SS
1. Right back where we started from

I'm pretty sure the story will switch from Seth to Summer's perspective every chapter, tho I prefer writing from Seth because I can understand him a bit more being as he's a social outsider and all…its just easier to write rather than be all happy go lucky with popularity like Summer…..i'm trying a new writing style out so don't bash too much please….this is set after Seth returns from Tahiti…he never went to Portland, Luke still lives in Newport and Ryan hasn't come back..Sorry I modified the story just a tiny bit so you might find a few parts changed up…..anyways enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do not own the OC, but I still boycott fox for canceling it!**

I'd like to tell you I'm some ripped 6'4 guy and the most popular in the school. Hell I'd even venture to tell you that I'm the guy who sits at the back of the class and picks his nose. Ew! Sorry, as you can see, Summer's rubbed off on me a bit. But at least the nosepicker is one step above on the proverbial social status chair to me, Seth Cohen, proclaimed emogeek. And I made a mistake.

What you ask? Leaving Summer Roberts. That's right, I left her on a boat for the summer because my best friend, or brother whatever you like to call him, left to be with his pregnant girlfriend in Chino. I got an extreme amount of respect for the guy, but still his departure tore me in two. I couldn't bare the thought of being here without him, because eventually that meant I'd lost Summer too. And a life without Summer wasn't life at all.

Although currently I still A)have no life and has only gotten worse, and B) don't have Summer. So it was a lose-lose situation for me.

As for Summer….she's probably cuddling with _Zach _and watching movies. Jeez and to think that that used to be me. But I can't really have no hard feelings towards the guy, because I supposed he makes her happy. And we all know I will do anything for her to be happy, even if its at the expense of me being miserable. She deserves a _real_ man. Someone who won't run out on her when things get tough, someone to be there for her when it seems her worlds falling apart, someone that can cherish her like she's above all other….Someone like me…but I messed that up.

I had my chance to be a _real_ man to her, and I failed miserably.

"Seth! Let's go now! Your going to be late!" a voice boomed from downstairs. School. That's just great. What better way to be welcomed back to Newport than to see the happy couple Summer and Zach.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of Zach. I mean he's on the waterpolo team, one of the most popular guys in the school, and from what I hear, he's basically Mr.Perfect.

So it was most certainly going to be a bad day today. It was the first day of school, and there was no Ryan and no Summer. Ryan hadn't returned yet from Chino. He called numerous amount of times from Chino just to say hi and say how things were going. Theresa had lost her baby before birth, but Ryan still felt it was his duty to stick with her.

I drearily trudged down the stairs and grabbed a bowl and a cup. I began fixing my bowl of cereal, than before adding milk, decided to prepare my coffee. I unintentionally poured the coffee into my cereal, causing an ugly color to arise from the soggy bits. _Its gonna be one of those days._

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Once I was in the car, I quickly turned on my Ipod and slipped in the earphones. There was nothing better than getting lost to the melodies of Death Cab when your having a bad day. So now you know why you will hear Death Cab blaring from my room from now probably until the day I die.

As we're passing all of the scenic views Newport has to offer, I can't help but feel a little proud of my decision to leave Summer. It was verry little, but still there. Things don't work out for people like me, so why did I ever think thinks with Summer would? Was it because her life is perfect? In which point, her perfection could make up for my rejection? Things are the way they are for a reason, and I guess it was better to end things with her. I don't imagine she cried any tears over me, she probably just moved straight on to Zach as soon as I left. Another benefit of having ended it with her rather her breaking up with me, which was bound to happen. I love that girl way too much than even she knows. I wouldn't be able to bare have her break up with me and realize what a mistake I was.

Uh-oh! The school outskirts. I can see them from here, that's not a good sign. Mom doesn't seem to mind as much as I do. She's glad I'm back. If anyone should be happy out of this, its my parents. I know I put them through hell when I left, especially my mom, she hit the bottle hard and nearly drove out of control. It wasn't till I returned that things seemed to return to normal. Well how 'normal' can it get in Newport?

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"Have a nice day honey!" Kirsten waves goodbye and blows a kiss than pulls out. _God I'm not 5 anymore mom._ But I give a small gloomy wave and turn to see if anyone saw that altercation between my mother and I. Obviously no one. Just like always, even with Ryan here this place was hell and I expect no less.

I take 5 steps, I counted, before getting advertently run into by a jock. He brushes past my shoulder sending me to staggering a bit back. I look back and the guy is just laughing it off with his friends while they go over their new schedules. _Friends_…wish I had my friend here with me. But no mines busy being a good guy and taking care of his ailing girlfriend who just lost their baby.

I continue on my way for the school front steps, passing dozens of kids talking over their classes, when I look to the top of the long flight of stairs.

I spot Marissa chatting with some jock, and I instantly gaze to her surroundings, because where there's Marissa, your always bound to find that small beautiful brunette who's got my heart on a thread.

And without further a dew, there she is. She's got on bright pink heels, followed up with a dangerously low mini skirt with pink polo. I can never get sick analyzing her attire. Its completely mesmerizing everyday, its impossible to get sick of. I pry my eyes from her body, and focus on her waist…a hand wrapped firmly around her, and I peer up to find whoelse…Zach. I look away in disgust, feeling that the trio don't see me so I make my way up the stairs trying to go unnoticed by them.

As I near the top, just a couple feet away from the trio I glance up to find all 3 of them staring at me. Zach instantly tightens his grip on Summer, as if she's going to fly away, Marissa appears happy, and then I finally find the most important eyes of all, Summer's. Hers just look emotionless, yet full of sadness and shock mixed in one.

"S-S-Summer…Hi…" I spit out and sweat starts pouring out of me like buckets.

Okay so that was the first chapt…I'm trying a new writing style so don't criticize too much…its very angsty and fileld with drama, a lot to do with Seth's social life catching up with him after he experienced bliss when Ryan was there.

**R/R n please review. I thrive of them…lol**


	2. Pity the Fool

**Disclaimer: Another day, and still I don't own it.**

Summers POV

"_Cohen…"_ I stutter out as he slowly approaches us. Its been what, like 2 months since that bitch sailed out on his little catamaran and left with only a note. I shouldn't even give his ass the time of the day now. He had his chance, and he blew it.

But why the hell isn't he on his knees begging for forgiveness already? I'm looking forward to dangling him on a thread from now on. I get to show off what he can't have. So why isn't he begging for another shot yet?

He's just standing there with his shoulders hunched over and playing with the tips of his sleeves. He had on his black dickies and an American eagle polo…_typical Cohen…_

I know sure as hell it couldn't be because he's got over me, I've only gotten hotter since the last time we were together. Especially with this skimpy skirt and pink top showing just enough cleavage….he should be exploding.

Just for that, I'm going to make him suffer just like I did. Make sure he knows he lost his chance with me.

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"Seth!" Marissa walked over and graciously greeted him. Probably because she expects Ryan. " Where's Ryan?" see? Went straight to the point…_That's my Coop…_

"Uhh he's still in Chino…" I see him grow even more depressed. Zach's now squeezing the hell out of me, with his arms wrapped around my waist…_I'm not going to fly away ass!_

"Hi Summer….." He timidly smiles and shoves his hands deep into his pockets. "….and Zach…"

"Cohen." I attempt to give him an evil glare and it pays off, because he's trembling with his words.

"S-S-So are you two…." He breaks off after stating the obvious. He had to have known that already. Now's a perfect time to inflict pain.

"Together? Yes we are!" I try to emphasize the 'we' so Cohen can realize its over. "aren't we ducky?" I pinch Zach's cheeks together and he just slightly nods…he's embarrassed as hell.

I look back at Cohen and he's just dejectedly looking down at his shoes, finding interest in something on his dirty old converses. I triumphantly grin to myself, realizing Seth's agonizingly hurt right now…

"well I should be off, gotta make sure all of my classes are set…bye." He mumbles out and hurriedly rushes away from our group. I watch as he wonders down the school grounds, still not looking up at where he's going. He hasn't raised his head once since I seen him.

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Zach finally releases me and begins talking to one of his 'groupies', or in other words, the desperate chicks looking to get nailed by a waterpolo player. We were never really together since before 10 minutes ago. I only told Seth that so he could hurt just like I did.

Now its just me and Coop standing alone on the edge of the stairway, playing the whole 'too cool for school' motto. She's upset that Ryan didn't come back, clearly she didn't give a damn that Seth came back. Knowing Marissa, she'll be getting hammered tonight after what's gone on today.

"I wonder if Ryan will come back soon too…" She tries to play it cool and says nonchalantly, trying not to show a hint of desperation. The truth is, that Ryan was her shield. He protected her from everything bad that had ever threatened to drag her down. And now that she's without him, she's a mess. She just doesn't get that Ryan won't be able to protect her and always be there to catch her when she falls. He's not a freaking white knight, though she makes him out to be.

I used to think Seth was my white knight, but now I know that's not true. Sure he cares a hell of a lot for me, but him leaving only helped me understand that I need to be independent. I'm vowing never to fall in love again, especially with Seth Cohen. I should actually be thanking him for helping me understand that I can't depend on others. Because it will only bring heartache, I now have first hand experience to prove it.

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My eyes wonder back off in the direction of where Seth was headed. He'd been walking rather slow and with his head down, so I just figured he wasn't far away…_Just wanted to make sure he was gone so he doesn't bother me…that's all._

I squint my eyes down the narrow pathway and find Seth. There's a huge group of jocks gathered around the side entrance to the building, and Seth's headed straight at them. Sure enough, Seth runs straight into the biggest one of all the jocks, Kyle Thompson. I heard from Coop that he apparently broke half of Harbor's weightlifting records.

Seth stumbles backward and finally glances upward at whom he ran into. I can already tell that he's rambling away and making excuses for his behavior. Clearly the jocks aren't taking it too well, as they're now surrounding him with looks that could kill.

I could only wince at the sight now before me…Seth was getting shoved around in the circle by the tandem of jocks. They're just messing around with him, seeing as their expressions on their face, but Seth looks to be in pain. People all around are snickering at him as the jocks finally stopped and shoved him to the ground with much more force than earlier. His books scatter everywhere and rip out of the bag.

I couldn't stand to take much more of this, but I was held back by Marissa who gave me a look that clearly said 'he's not your responsibility anymore'. But what the hell does she know? I wasn't going to help him out because I _**love**_ him or something, its quite the opposite actually. Nobody deserves to be treated that way, nothing more…Right?

But just as quick as the idea popped into my head, it left. I remembered my priorities, which now consisted of Zach. Since he's my _**boyfriend**_. Me and my big mouth had to go out and declare him that title. Jeez things are screwed up, if it wasn't for Cohen leaving, we'd still be together, and I would be happy as ever.

Seth's face is now covered with red. Most likely anger, but also embarrassment. He gathers all of his belongings on the ground and than the bell rings. He looks around and his eyes finally match mine. For some idiotic reason, my heart begins to beat faster and I can feel butterflies threatening in my stomach. Why the hell am I flustered?

He shoots off his trademark smirk, which of course is followed by a huge dimple display, and that only causes my heart to rampage on even faster. His smirk was only a short one, as he turned his head and headed off towards his class, holding his lower back and rubbing his knee. I could see that his shirt ripped and I felt a little sad about his current state. _**A little…**_

I shake off all of my feelings, and force my heart to slow down then I popped my cell open. _Shit we're late!_

How is it possible to be late for class when you're ready and prepared a half hour before it starts? Coop too realizes the time and links her arm with mine and we prance down the sidewalk. There's no need to rush and run because who the hell rushes to get to class. I mean, its school…Ew!

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I check my schedule and glance at the door number. First period was the only class I didn't have one of my friends in with me. Of course, that only consisted of Marissa and I guess, well Zach. Everyone is fake and slutty, so theres no way they could be anywhere near being a real friend.

I pry the door open and slowly glace around the room, where I find the reason why I'm late slouched over on the desk.

"Cohen…"

**long since last update…I hope u guys like the chapter…don't bash too bad…I'm just starting out on this new style of writing.**

**Review!Review Review!………REVIEW! please**


	3. Welcome Back to The OC

Sorry about lack of posting…I've had a lot of shit to deal with…but enough about me, here it is…enjoy and review!

**Welcome back to The O.C**

Summer P.OV "Cohen…" 

You've gotta be kidding me. I can barely handle being around him in the halls, and now, he's in my class!! Oh god this can't be good…Of course I can only not tolerate being around him because he's like, such a dork…That's all.. Nothing more…

"Summer.." he instantly shoots up in his desk and his eyes brighten even more when he sees the only available chair left is directly beside him. God why do they have to make paired seating?

But he does look a _little_ bit cute…Just a little bit.. I'm allowed to say that, after all he is my ex.

WHOA Summer! Snap out of your Coheny Cohenism now! He is not cute in the slightest bit. He's a comic book geek who sails away like a bitch on his boat! Yeah, that's what he is.

"Mr.Francombe, can I please be seated somewhere else?" I immediately see Seth slouch down in his chair once he hears this. A part of me is proud as fuck, while the other is sad that he's hurting. Fortunately, the latter isn't effective.

"Why yes Summer…For showing up late to my class, I can have you seated elsewhere, and how about I throw in a free foot massager?" Mr.Francombe doesn't even glance up from his attendance sheet.

"You would do that?!?!" I perk up for a second, then mentally slap myself once I realize whats happening. Sarcasm…What my grasp on sarcasm slimmed down a bit ever since assface over there left.

"Sit Mrs.Roberts…" the class snickers and now I'm left to the perils of enduring Seth Cohen. But unwillingly, I oblige and take a seat. I glare at Seth when I see him still grinning from ear to ear.

"God, this sucks…" Whoops! Was that loud? Oh well hopefully nerdboy didn't hear it.

"Oh my, Summer, you sound just as excited as I am…." Damn Sarcasm. He just shoots another famous Seth Cohen, dimple filled grin. I can't help but smirk back.

**Why the hell am I smiling?**

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Seth P.O.V 

"God Mr.Francombe has got to be the biggest loser of all the teachers here…" I whisper to Summer, ever since beginning of class she's been quiet.

"Well I'm pretty sure he doesn't read comic books and listen to whiny music.. So he can't qualify as a loser…" Ouch. That hurts. She does all that while not once looking at me.

"Ouch Summer..That's cold…" finally! She looks up!

"What? I could've said he doesn't own a boat and sail away because his _friend_ leaves…"Ouch. She's two for two.

"Summ, I told you already how sorry I am…it …it was stupid.." here's my chance, better take it while I still have it. " Please Sum, I promise I won't screw up again…You gotta give me another chance…" Lets try and grab her hand…and…Score! I'm holding her hand.

She sniffles a few times and I see her wipe her eyes..Could that be…No it couldn't be tears..I thought she had no feelings for me, theres hope after all. But then again, I don't know whether to be happy or sad that she's crying. After all, whatever Summer's feeling, I'm usually 10 times worse. I swear that girl has me wrapped around her finger.

"Sum….?" I gently caress her hand, just enough to know that I'm not rushing things. Thank god for Francombe and his intense first day lectures, or I might not of got this chance.

"Nothing you say can fix what you did Cohen…" She violently rips her hand out of my grasp.

"I know, I know…But I mean, we can try again…start fresh…" I try again and reach my hand out, extending it almost directly in front of her face. " Hi, I'm Seth Cohen…"

She just looks at it, then at my face. From what I can see, it looks likes pity, sadness and anger all wrapped in one on her expression. But it all quickly wipes away, and she reaches out to grab my hand.

"Summer Roberts…and I have a boyfriend.." She gives an evil smirk, showing no hint of the Summer Roberts that I know deep inside her.

"Okay, Okay that was a bad start…" we both share a laugh and laugh even harder when we look around the class and see no one giving a damn about what Francombe is saying. First day of math class is always pointless.

She's still has that evil smirk pressed on her lips and her arms crossed.

"Wh-What..?" I start looking desperately around..i've always been self-conscious.

"We can't start over Cohen…." Her grin now fades a bit.

"Why Not! Sum! You've gotta give me another shot….I promise I can be the man you deserve…." All of this is just to frustrating, here I am frantically running my hands through my hair and sweating like hell, while she's smirking like an idiot. No Summer's not an idiot, she's just smirking like one…don't take that the wrong way..

"Because I already told you…I have a boyfriend.." Damn.Damn.Damn.

"W-W-What y-you do…o-oh I d-didn't know…"Damn it, now I'm rambling.. And she knows whenever I ramble its because I'm either nervous or upset. Shit. "I d-didn't know, well you know…hahaha…. I ahhhh never ummm s-saw him around…" Good move Cohen, play the denial card.

"Hmmm…" She licks her lips in preparation to talk. Most likely a rage blackout…but god she looks so gorgeous… " Well I do, and he's all the _man_ I'll ever need Cohen, and to top it all off, he's captain of the water polo team…" Oh god.. 'to top it all off…'?!?! She thinks that's just icing on top of the cake. _Mr.WaterPolo… _Who is it anyways? It used to be Luke, but I think now its either Nordlund, Brad or Zach….Please not be Brad! He's just a ginormous tool, well they all are, but he's the biggest of them all.

"Oh, that's well, that's cool….You're uhhhh moving up the social ladder huh? That's ummm good, I guess…" I can't do anything else but lower my head and close my eyes. I don't care if she's just beaming off of my reaction.

"Yes it is, considering how low I was when I was with you…Its nice to be on top again…No more dwindling on the bottom…"Ouch. What an Ice Queen. That's the third personal attack, even that has to be a new record, even for Summer.

I can't take much more of this.. I've gotta get out of here, away from all this crap. I was better off staying in Portland. I could just be miserable there instead of being here and witnessing Summer and her new boy toy making out every waking minute of the day. When's the damn bell going to ring anyway?

Ring Ring Ring! 

Phew…and not a moment too soon. All the kids already rushed out well before Francombe finished his speech on Distributive Law, the poor fool. I solemnly make my way out of the class and down the hall. Once again, the lockers are numbered in 'Social' order, and that's not the only benefit of Marissa being Social Chair. As soon as Ryan left, she basically goes back to ignoring me and getting smashed just like she used to before Ryan showed up. She's a wreck, that's all there is to it.

Surprisingly though, my lockers not too far away from Summer's, and she's Queen of the crop at Harbor. I'm just across the hall and to the right of her. Clear view of her, I guess that's the response you get for dating the Prom Queen, you get better lockers. The old ones I used to use were all stingy and hard, I know from personal experience, having been slammed into every locker except these ones. These lockers were the popular kid's, and I finally get one.

Bang 

Okay scratch that, I now have been slammed into every locker. No thanks to Nordlund. God that jackass is almost a clone of what Luke used to be like. He probably thinks just like Luke too, thinks he's head honcho or El-Capitano of Harbor. At least Luke is an okay guy now, Nordlund's full of himself.

Great, now everyones all looking over at me, I liked it better when no one acknowledged me. Yeah, now I'm surrounded by a group of content eyes eagerly awaiting another Seth Cohen beating. No sign of Sum-….Never mind there she is! Right beside that short chick with the glasses, Betty Johnson I believe her name is, how the hell did two short girls like them get in front of a fight crowd? My only guess is that they probably owe a lot of bj's now…Sluts…Not Sum of course, never Sum..But she's just acting like one. Once again hiding in her shell and in the process, hiding her true self.

Why the hell am I thinking about Summer hiding in her true self, when I've got an angry water polo player threatening to kick my ass? The reason is either A) Summer just has that control over me or B) The guy must of lost his razor…Probably is a bit of both.

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Summer P.O.V 

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" everyone roars in anticipation of the first fight of the year. I might as well check, seeing as I need to distract myself from Cohen…Well not literally, I mean he's been like, in my head a lot…Don't ask me why.

Let me guess, it's the same people who always fight…A waterpolo player…I sneak through the bodies and peer overhead. Yep, Nordlunds in there so that's one….And…._**Seth…**_?

Now I'm at the head of the crowd, and never before have I ever been this scared. And why the hell am I? I mean, I'm like, actually sweating..Ew! defiantly not good for the skin.

"Cohen, I heard you left Newport _over_ the _summer_…." Nordlund shoves Seth hard against the lockers and sends a loud shriek through the halls. More importantly than Seth getting thrown into things is what Nordlund just said….'**over summer'** well sure there was a 'the' in there but that's beside the point, that's just way too strange.

"That's true…" Seth doesn't even elaborate further, he just brushes himself off casually and stands back up.

"Aww I heard it was because emo geek broke up with Summer Roberts…" Nordlund yells out loud and feigns upset, while everyone bursts into laughter. Except me and Seth, we're the only ones that understand the situation.

"No…" Seth staggers back and a few of Nordlund's buddies squeeze through the crowd and join him in crowding Seth.

"Yeah…the geek got his ass dumped.." _Not True!_ Seth covers his face and tries to block out the taunts. But I'm sure he can hear it just as clear as I can.

"You should've known it was too good to be true geek…" Seth gets shoved back and forth between the crowd. For some strange reason, I'm nearly in tears.

"Well geek, I guess since this is your first day back, why don't we reacquaint ourselves huh?" A couple water polo players sneak behind Seth and pin his arms back, Norldlund rubs his fist, almost as if he's readying it.

"Welcome _**back**_to The O.C bitch!" Nordlund winds up.

"Ahhh dude…don't you think that's a bit cliché-." And before I know it, I close my eyes and open them to the sight of Seth Cohen dropped to the floor in a heap, and the bell rings signaling the start of second period. Nordlund and his goons sprint away from the scene bolt for safety, as does the crowd, except they're headed to class.

All that's left is me and Cohen. He's laying on the ground out cold and I still haven't moved since the beginning of the fight. I'm too shocked to move. But now I'm panicking, and its because for the first time in my life, everything's starting to make sense. And its freaking me out.

So I run, out of the school, out the door and into the peaceful bliss that the California sun has to offer.

I've got a lot of thinking to do….

I've had so much hmk to get done in the past 2 weeks its been unreal…plus my comp breaking down didn't speed up the updating, but now hmk's done and comps fixed and im back! Lol

**REVIEW please**


	4. Lost in the Moment

**Lost in the Moment**

Seth P.O.V

Wow is my head ever ringing! The only thing I know, is I'm laying on the ground near the lockers and it is….1:30. Hmm…must've been here for a while then. And I see maturity is at an all time high at Harbor now? How nice of them to write 'fag' and 'queer' all over my face. Its not enough for them to call me that shit, but they have to label it on me? Not to mention, all over my face! Great, this isn't coming off either.

Wonder what in the hell happened that led to me being on the ground with my face covered in ink?

"Hey look there's Seth Cohen!…..Yeah he got his ass kicked at lunch…" two jocks walk by, one even adds an extra kick into my already aching ribs.

I guess there's my answer though…And its actually all starting to come back to me now..But theres no way Nordlund could be that strong to knock me out cold for an hour! He's not that tough, just extremely conceited…and an ass!

The only reason I laid there was to make everyone go away so they can leave me alone..Yeah! That's what it was! Then Summer bolted as soon as it was just me and her. She never even came over to check on me..God knows if that was her, I'd be over by her side in a heartbeat. Actually, better yet, it would never happen to her, because I'd do whatever I can to stop it. That's my take on love.

Doesn't Summer still love me? Did she ever love me? I know I ruined everything, but I thought she at least still cared about me. Maybe I had her wrong all along. Maybe she is just a stuck up primp princess looking to live off her trust fund her entire life. Maybe I only loved the _idea_ of Summer. I sure as hell thought she was better than everything in Newport…I guess not.

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Its pointless to stay on the ground and sulk about how much of a loser I am. I need to get away, away from all these superficial people, just get away from everything. Go to a place here that is _semi_ normal. I know its hard to find, but I believe it does exist, even in a town as fake as Newport.

The Pier 

It's the only place I can think of, and its too late to change my mind, considering I'm already there. Yes during all my rambling, I was unaware that my feet were moving in a rapid pace out of school. Not that I'm mad or anything, as far as I'm concerned, that school can go to hell.

But enough of that hellhole, lets focus on the beach. Its so easy to get lost in everything that's in it. The sand, the breeze, the waves… it's easy to just drift away along with everything. Sure others use it as a source for fun and tanning (coughSummercough) but others like me, use it as an oasis away from all the crap in their lives. The best part is, no ones around to spoil it whenever I go. Considering I only go to the beach when I know there's absolutely no chance of anyone being there, basically at night or during the day when I should be in school. No Nordlund, no Brad, no Zach, no…Summer?

What is she doing here? She's not tanning and she's defiantly not flirting with random guys like she used to. Speaking of it, that's another thing Summer used to do that could prove she didn't love me. Even when we were dating, she could not _not_ flirt with guys that would come up to us. She'd talk to them like I wasn't even there. I bet when she talked to them, she actually wished I _wasn't_ there.

But that's beside the point, now she's just walking along beach with her toes grazing the water. No cell phone attached to her ear, no ipod blasting out of her ears, nothing. It looks as if she's just thinking. That must be first for Summer. She never thinks. That sounds a bit harsh, but I believe it's the truth, because if she ever did think she'd realize why I left in the first place. But no she takes it as sign that I'm just like the other asses in the this town and that I runaway just like her mother. That's bullshit. She doesn't think about my feelings.

Okay, with all this crap running through my head, I'm defiantly in no mood to talk to her. I might end up saying a bunch of things I don't mean. I'm not in the right frame of mind to talk to her….Well I'm never in the right frame of mind I'm Seth Cohen after all, resident number 1 emo geek. So I'm not in the right frame of mind more than usual.

Yeah I'll just lay low. If I could I would hide behind the handrails right now, but if she looked over I'd look really stupid and immature. Probably the first thing that would pop into her head, not the fact that I'm scared to talk to her. God I feel exactly like I did last year, before I met her, but its not like last year…I know what its like to talk to her, kiss her, feel her…all that jazz, I've experienced it all, and yet here I am acting like the Seth Cohen of old.

Now she's directly in front of me, about 30 feet away and now she's come to a stop. Meanwhile I'm leaning over the rail like a lunatic trying desperately to see what she's up to, yet at the same time, hope she doesn't see me. I'd much rather adore her from the shadows like a ghost, then right in front of her.

All she's doing is standing there, frozen to one spot. Her shirt is flowing in the breeze and her hair is whipping around all over the place. I see a small glimpse of the Summer Roberts that I fell in love with. Maybe there is still hope.

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Summer P.O.V

Today has got to be the shittiest day ever. Yeah there was basically all summer of me saying this is the shittiest day ever, but today has got to like, defiantly be the worst. Why? I have no clue, but all signs point towards Seth Cohen. _Asshat. _It was his fault after all why my summer was so shitty. If it wasn't for him leaving, I think the summer would've been all time. But nooooo, Cohen had to go and find a way to ruin everything. He always finds away to take the best of things and turn it into absolute shit. Its like a skill of his.

The only thing that happened with him today was him getting pushed around by those jocks, then getting knocked out by Nordlund. I think its guilt. I can see why he left. His life was hell. Though he said that plenty of times before whenever we would bring up the past, but I never expected this. He gets beat, picked on, pushed around, teased. Everything. That guys been through it all. It makes perfect sense why he left when Ryan went back to Chino.

So now here I am, at the beach, during school, by myself , walking along the beach like some loner who listens to emo. Hehe, another dig at Cohen…sorry I couldn't resist. But the point is, he's the reason I'm here in the first place. I could be sitting in bio right now counting how many times I get checked out. Yeah it would be much better then sitting here and drowning in self pity. Actually, scratch that, not self pity but more like Cohen-pity.

The only thing keeping me sane and in reality right now is the waves rushing up against my legs. Luckily I wore a skirt today, thank god I didn't wear jeans. Last time I did, it didn't turn out so well. See me and Cohen decided it would be fun to spend the day at the beach, I mean like the entire day. I know right! Like awesome! I def got a totally hot tan that day. Back to the point, we first got there and I wore just jeans and a t-shirt there. I figured I'd change once we got there. But Cohen decides to go and lift me over his head and toss me in the ocean with my full outfit. What an asshole right? It was fun at the time, and you better believe I got his ass back, I tossed a few of his CD's in the ocean, just the ones I thought deserved to never be heard by anyone. And I know your saying, why didn't I toss out his whole collection then? I would've, but I was afraid he'd cry or something. He's very emotionally unstable. So anyways, after we were finished the jeans soaked and stuck so much to my legs, that when I got home, my legs were like blue outlined from the damn jeans! It stayed for like a week.

I swear, if I ever saw that kid here again, I'd toss his ass in the ocean for it. Paybacks a bitch Cohen, wherever you are, I hope you know that. Between me and Cohen, we both know I was always the stronger one. Well this has been an eventful walk, I like this spot so I might just stay and stand for a while. To anyone looking at me, I might look like a deranged lunatic obsessed with the ocean. But for some strange reason, I feel like standing here.

But I guess I better head back, its what, almost 2:30 now, I should make an appearance for my 4th period class. Mrs.Snyder isn't that bad of a teacher, so it could be an okay class. I turn out away from the ocean unwillingly and my eyes come across a lone figure leaning over the rail so much he looks like he might fall if the slightest wind hit him. Incredibly lanky, with a striped polo and khakis…Oh no, it couldn't be…

Cohen… 

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Now I'm against my will, moving towards him. He's looking directly back into my eyes with lust and angst. I can already tell he's mumbling incoherently to himself as I approach him. I secretly love that about him. Its so nerdy, neurotic and quirky. But I love it, its just typical Cohen. I also love the affect I have on him. Its as if I completely control him. I'm the reason he's mumbling incoherently and sweating like theres no tomorrow. He's the puppet and I'm the puppet master!

I'm about 5 feet away from him, and he's frantically trying to regain his balance after leaning so far over the rail. But in typical Cohen fashion, he can't regain his balance, and he falls flat on his back. Smacking his ass off the concrete and making a complete fool of himself. Hasn't he been through enough pain already? I don't even feel like joining in the laughter surrounding him, all the snickering couples walking by laughing. All I can do is smile sympathetically and hope that's enough for him.

"Uhhhh what are you doing here?" he blurts out and dusts off his pants rubs his back.

"God Cohen it's a public beach, anyone can come here…" I retort. I hate that things I say to him always come out wrong.

"Well shouldn't you be in class hitting on all the water polo players and gossiping about the entire school?" he says coldly and bitterly. Not showing a hint of the Seth Cohen I know and love. Did I just say love? But that's beside the point, he sounds like he actually hates me. What the hell did I do? If anyone should be mad, it should be me. Is that seriously what he thinks of me?

"Shouldn't you be in class listening to crappy music and weeping over Ryan leaving?" I snarl back, whoops that was cold. Colder than what he said. He's just staring at me blankly, not even one emotion on his face.

I can now see a small moisture piling up in the corner of his eyes and he has the sad expressions. He's just repeatedly shaking his head, and now a single tear drips down from his face.

"You know what…." He chokes out but quickly composes himself. "I'm done with this…Your exactly like the rest of them Summer…You have no heart and you don't give a shit about anyone…But you know what…Now I don't give a shit about you anymore…" With that, he stomps off and I can only stare after him. From behind him, I can see him frantically bating at his eyes, at presumably tears.

I can't believe what he just said. Did he seriously just say he doesn't care for me anymore? I know I've treated him like dirt since he's been back, but I at least thought he'd be able to take it. He's used to it anyways. But what was I expecting from him, I don't know if I love him or hate him, but I do know I like him _a lot_. Yes, okay, okay, I'm admitting it now. _I like Seth Cohen…still._

Was I expecting him to wait around forever? I mean, I moved on already, he probably sees that I already have Zach in my back pocket, and he hasn't been with a girl since me. Not that he was with many before me.

All I can do is watch him walk away, and I burst into a flurry of tears. He walks away, and symbolically, walks out of my life.

That was sorta long…but still Im satisfied with it. Review please n tell me what you think about it. Please don't bash too bad, I just started trying this type of writing: )but still REVIEW.


	5. Hate Is A Strong Word

**Title is a song by a band Plain White Tee's...;yeah that's about it…enjoy.**

Disclaimer: Do not own O.C or Plain White Tees 

**Hate Is A Strong Word (But I Really Don't Like You)**

Seth P.O.V 

God sometimes I just love California. The soothing calm breeze, the beaming sun, to the swooshing gentle waves crashing on to the shore, I relish all of the treasures that only California has to offer. Not necessarily the people who live here 99 of the time, but all the features that make it what it is.

All of these come into effect especially after telling your long time crush you have no feelings for her and don't give a shit about her. Yes, yes, if I'm not mistaken, I accidentally told Summer I didn't give a damn about her. Which couldn't be any farther off from the truth.

I know this for a fact, considering my hands are gripped to the steering wheel so tensely that they may actually rip out the leather coating on the wheel. Warm, moist streams are bawling down from my eyes. Now if that's not emasculating, I don't know what is. Crying has since become a new addition to the bevy of accomplishments Seth Cohen has conquered. I believe it started after the 4th of July blowout with Sum, in which she basically told me if I ever tried to contact her again she'd have her father arrange for me to be killed. That's saying something especially since I've been through all the bullshit that the water polo players make me put up with. Through all the teasing, name calling, beating and humiliating, I never once reduced to tears. Funny how one stunningly beautiful, tiny brunette can affect me.

Ever since, tears have become like breathing to me, they quickly snatched the place from sarcasm. I have less reason to be sarcastic. Not many quirky comments, catchy phrases or pop culture references…. Nope, I'm beginning to see the world for what it actually is, and not as one big joke….. I truly have lost Summer, and after tonight, I threw out all hope of reconciling with her.

Some people believe firmly in the phrase "Out with the old, and In with the New", but how could anyone honestly forget Summer and find someone new, and she certainly will never be old, at least not in my eyes. Even some believe in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". That's a load of crap too. Sure Summer and I were perfectly fine and content before Ryan left, but it was only a matter of time before we ran into trouble. Sum is most likely a firm believer in this logic, thus provoking her to blame me leaving on my insecurities. But even she knows that's wrong, she just needs something to reassure her that everything's my fault and she did nothing wrong. Which so to speak, she didn't, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before she got bored of me and moved on to a new boy toy.

That's exactly what would've happened. She'd revert to her old partying, bitchy ways, before-Ryan ways. She has no clue how much Ryan's arrival affected her. She changed into a completely different person and for the better. She just doesn't understand that with Ryan leaving, she would inevitably turn back into the Summer of old.

Things are the way they are for a reason.

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Summer P.O.V 

I couldn't have handled that Cohen situation any worse. He now has every right to hate me. Which is far from what I initially wanted. It was supposed to be me hating him, and him drowning in self-pity, not the other way around.

I know I've been sending mixed signals all day today, but did it really have to lead to him declaring his hatred for me, not his eternal love like I was expecting. That was seriously all I was waiting for. Something to show me he still cares, not show how much he despises me.

What makes me even mad the most though, is the fact that I have a supposed boyfriend and here I am sobbing over Seth Cohen. If this was last year, before Ryan's arrival and before the invasion of Seth Cohen into my life, I certainly wouldn't be here sulking that's for sure. I've got Zach now after all, as of this morning to be exact. I only claimed him my boyfriend just to hurt Cohen. Sure Zach and I spent a lot of time together over summer break, but it was never anything romantic. He often dragged me out of the house just to get me out of my Cohen angst. It couldn't hurt to be with him after all, he is _the_ top water polo player and king of harbor. It would only benefit me and raise my social status, especially after dwindling on the bottom after being with Cohen. I can either reap the benefits of being Zach's girlfriend and become queen of the school again, or like continue to sulk over whats-his-face.

Its pointless to stay here on the beach, with reminders of Cohen lying everywhere. I swear everything in Newport only brings back memories of Cohen. From the beach, all many times he's tossed me into the ocean even with my designer clothes still on, to the diner, all his sarcastic jabs at my eating habits.

So the beach is definitely one place I don't want to be. So I can either return to school and face the perils of 4th period physics, go straight home, or go to my own personal oasis….the mall! Hmm….definitely the mall!

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If Summer wants to go ahead and find a new guy to make out with, its fine by me. I'll just go and find someone new also. She might not stack up in no way to Summer's striking features, but at least she'll be fair. If I ever screw up, which is a given, she can give me a damn chance to explain myself instead of going off and finding a new fuck.

Its not like I truly hate her, its just that I'm really fed up with her. With more of the way she's acting and handling everything between us, she's acting just like a typical spoiled Newport brat. She just casually moves on after a serious relationship like it meant nothing. I swear I would do anything for that girl, and she just moves on like I was just a flavor of the week.

All this is not to say losing Summer is the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I guess I'm just giving in to reason and moving on, much to my dismay. I would rather be living in last year. Ryan would still be here, Marissa would have a reason to talk to me, and most importantly I'd have the girl, Summer.

But now, I'm pulling into my woeful home that just looks so empty now, yet so full, as there is a vehicle in the driveway. My dads to be exact, he's usually off indulging himself in some Partridge, Savage and Con nuisance lawsuit. Since Ryan left, he had focused more on work and my mom basically had morphed right back into the ideal newpsie. Ryan leaving truly did affect a lot of people, not just me and Marissa.

All I want to do is run upstairs and forget this day ever happened. Get lost in the soothe sounding lyrics of Death Cab and slowly slip into a maddening sleep. And I'm only a few minutes away from that, just got to hurdle through the barrage of workers scattered about the front porch. I almost forgot that mom had gotten a bit lonely over Summer and instructed a remodel.

I slowly creek the door open, a moment sooner and I would've been smoked by pieces of debris that just got blown from the wall. Its safe to say Archie Construction Company isn't exactly "Safety first" type of service. you come here a sec. We have a visitor." Great. I was almost upstairs too. I suppose all he wants is to tell me about some lame ass Newport Charity event going on tonight.

The icing on top of the ideal _perfect_ day would be to attend a Newport event. Honestly my day could not get any….

Holy shit. Am I seeing this correctly? Better rub my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing things…My god I am! It couldn't be….

"Ryan….!"


	6. Misery Loves Company

Okay so basically that whole new style of writing thing is done with..not going to write that anymore, reverting back to my old ways..hehe….and by the way I realized I messed up earlier…Seth came back from Portland not Tahiti, and Luke is still there…..

**Besides that though, enjoy and please review**

Misery Loves Company 

'Hey..' Ryan shifted uncomfortably back and forth. He really had no idea how Seth would react to finally seeing him after all this time. Ryan nervously offered out his hand.

'Pssh, please we hug it out like men.. Brothers even. ' Seth opened his arms out and enveloped Ryan into an unwanted hug

'Okay Seth, this is really….'

'Awkward I know…' Seth leaned on the countertop while Ryan gradually began stepping further and further away.

'Well now that we got that out of the way, Ryan will you be staying with us?' Sandy finally spoke up and everyone could see the bristle of hope he had shimmering in his eyes. Seth looked on eagerly.

'Uhh haha well you know…If I'm allowed to…I know I kinda just took off before, so if you don't want to I completely underst-'

'-Nonsense Ryan. Of course we want you to stay. Just so you know, nobody leaves this family twice.' Sandy finished with a smirk and walked across the room and hugged Ryan firmly.

'Is this a moment I see forming?' Ryan shot Seth glares from overtop of Sandy's shoulder.

'Seth don't even…'

'Come here you!' Seth joined in and loosely laid a hand on Ryan's shoulder during Sandy's embrace.

'God I immediately regret leaving Chino..' Sandy chuckled and walked back over to the kitchen table while Seth just smirked. 'What's up with you anyway….Is it just that time of the month?'

'Funny Ryan, I see your sense of humor has blossomed while you were in comedy central, Chino.'

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'Coop! What am I going to do! Cohen, like totally hates me…' Summer ran a hand frustratingly through her hair. 'God this is so not the way I pictured it…'

'Chill Sum, everything will be just fine..' Summer looked incredulous over at Marissa. What the hell did she know? She's been sulking over Ryan basically ever since the whole Oliver situation, but that gives her no right to talk like she knew exactly what was going on. 'Well how did you _picture _it Sum?' Marissa glared up from her magazine briefly then rolled her eyes once she looked away.

'Well, originally I thought Cohen would come back all determined or whatever to get me back, then he'd confess his undeniable love for me. Not his undeniable _hatred_…' Summer frowned then looked up at Marissa for an answer. Marissa was nervously glancing from Summer, to the magazine, to out the window. Almost as if she was expecting someone.

'Don't worry about it Sum, its just _Seth Cohen_…He doesn't function properly without you and he'll realize it soon enough..' Summer huffed and crossed her arms abruptly. Clearly she was not satisfied with Marissa's answer. ' I'm just saying…Remember how in elementary school, you never even knew who the hell Seth was and always had planned to date some celebrity or something? Well what if dating Seth, now only makes you realize you're not destined for each other and that well….you're better than him…' Marissa looked down almost ashamed and Summer cupped a hand over her mouth and gasped.

'First off,Its not _just_ Seth Cohen. Secondly, Coop you've never seen the way he looks at me, like truly looks at me. Like I'm the only one in the room that matters and everything else can wait. Theres no way in hell I'm ditching my Cohen to some celebrity, though the thought is tempting…We were kids anyway, it doesn't matter.'

Summer glared at Marissa, while she just countered by eagerly gazing out the window. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a sudden ring. Summer was awoken from her fuming glares at Marissa and she checked her purse. She grabbed her phone and checked the caller, hoping it was a certain comic book reading, jew fro brunette. Summer let out a deep sigh and grunted when she read that it was Zach.

'What do you want?' Summer muttered bitterly.

'Well hello to you to girlfriend…god that just sounds so awesome…_girlfriend_…Summer Roberts is my _girlfriend_.'

'Unfortunately yes, but thanks for stating the obviously Einstein.' Summer said angrily, not even caring about hurting his feelings.

'Well I was just wondering if we coul..-'

'Sum! You gotta go, I've got a visitor…" Marissa hissed as Summer completely zoned out from her conversation with Zach.

'All of that sounds awesome! Not. I've gotta go.' Summer snapped her phone shut then continued to observe Marissa's strange behavior. 'Okay, whats going on Coop?'

'Nothing, but you really should be going..Bye' Marissa plastered on a fake smile and ushered Summer toward the door and eventually slammed it shut with a thud. Summer was left puzzled out front of her door. _Visitor? What visitor? All I see is a flower truck…_

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'So what exactly happened here while I was gone?" Ryan asked incredulously as he began to unpack all of the contents in his gym bag into the poolhouse. Seth really had no idea how to approach this question. So much had changed since last year, he didn't even know where to begin.

'Well for starters…Summer left me, well not technically see as you know I left her, but everyone knows it was only a matter of time before she'd leave me, which I guess is only fair. I mean she already replaced me with _Zach_' Seth used air quotes with his fingers 'And now I'm hear wallowing in self pity.'

'I mean what else happened beside the usual Seth/Summer drama? All of Newport doesn't revolve around you Seth.'

'I guess you're right…But imagine if it did…Anyways I suppose your talking about Marissa' Seth air quoted yet again.

'Stop with the air quoting, its starting to freak me out.' Ryan slowly took a seat on the edge of the bed and stared at Seth cautiously.

'I'm okay with that. I don't really know about her man, I just saw her for the first time today.' Seth saw as Ryan's eyes showed a glimmer of hope. He really didn't know what to tell Ryan about her. He knew she hadn't been herself lately, but he wasn't sure as to _how much_ she changed. Being away from Summer for the, well summer, made Seth realize all of the little things about her that changed. For starters, he could tell she changed her hairstyle and even was beginning to wear less and less makeup. Not that he was stalking or anything, its just he would always be able to spot those things out on her.

'Maybe I should go see her than…'Ryan jumped up from the his seat on the bed and bounded for the door. He was already out the door and now headed for the kitchen.

'Ryan, buddy I don't think that's such a ….' Seth was cut off by the sound of the engine roaring as Ryan sped off out of the driveway. '_…good idea.'_

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Summer was now frantically pacing back in forth in her room, trying desperately to make up her mind and stick with it. On one side of the spectrum, there was Seth who obviously still might have feelings for her, but there was still some doubt. Especially after their encounter earlier at the beach, then there's Zach, who was just recently added to the mounds of problems Summer had. The only reason was because she wanted Seth to be jealous, once again, resulting in everything revolving around Seth. God she was screwed.

'Summer, baby..' Zach entered her room and sprung across to kiss her on the cheek. _He doesn't kiss like Cohen_

'What are you doing, I thought I told you not to bother me.' Summer said huskily.

'Well after hearing you on the phone, you sounded frustrated so I decided to come keep you company..' Zach eyed her room up and quickly began rummaging through her bookshelves. 'does a movie sound good?'

Summer was stunned at Zach's lack of intelligence. Did he not listen to a word she just said. She lowered her head and began quietly cussing herself for ever getting involved in this mess.

'Sum? Are you going to watch?' Zach remained content and calm as he sat at the end of her bed. Summer remained silent and only nodded her head briefly. She really wasn't in to this.

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'I've waited soo long to do that…' Marissa said with joy as she was buried underneath a body that was ever increasingly pressing against her. She never once imagined she'd be with this guy, but she just figured everything would play itself out in the end and everything would eventually be solved. But however, she did not know how horribly wrong she was. She was ultimately having an affair, with the yard guy. Though she wasn't in a relationship, it sure felt like cheating.

'I know, I know but I've got to get back to work.' The man finally pried himself from Marissa, and stood up to begin getting dressed.

'Not without another kiss!' Marissa pleaded with her eyes, then rose to cover the distance separating their faces…

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'From what Seth's told me, she should be happy to see me, not angry and bitter like I originally thought.' Ryan began flying different scenarios around in his head about what his first encounter with Marissa would be like, nevertheless he could not wipe the smile off his face as he pulled into Marissa's driveway. There was a flower truck parked just ahead of him but he thought nothing of it. He approached her door and saw it was flung wide open and could faintly hear noises coming from upstairs.

'Maybe she already knows and is planning some crazy party or something..' Ryan laughed at the prospect of a huge party going on in Marissa's room. He ascended the stairs and approached her doorway, still unable to wipe away the smile.

'God this is just so great, I'm out of Chino, back with my family and friends, away from Theresa, and possibly back with….'Ryan flung the door open to a scene he wished he didn't see. Marissa was pressed against her dresser making out with some guy. He had his hands pinned firmly over top of her and she was beginning to work on his belt. Ryan's smile instantly fell. '…..Marissa…'.

Marissa looked up with a stunned look on her face, the man also looked equally as shocked as she was. She quickly shoved him away and directed her attention to Ryan.

'I-I-I I gotta go…' Ryan sprinted out of the house and tried to keep his composure. At least till he got home, besides it wasn't like him to cry and he sure as hell hoped it wouldn't start now. It was more of Seth's thing anyways.

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'I guess Ryan had it right all along, getting everything out of the way is the best approach to a relationship…'Seth tapped his foot to a song he last heard on the radio as he stood outside of the Roberts mansion. He finally gave in and decided to confront Summer about all of their issues, and he hoped it would go over as smoothly as he pictured it would. Of course his image of it was Summer confessing how wrong she was and striping naked. But he guessed that wasn't going to happen, so he'd have to settle for the next best thing. An inevitable shouting match with Summer.

He knocked on the door and timidly awaited for someone to answer. To his dismay, it was the one person he wished wouldn't.

'Ahhh…ummm hi Doctor Roberts…' Seth mumbled out and gave an uneasy smile.

'What are you doing here?'

'I uhhh came to see Summer, sir.'

'You know you really hurt her…I won't let you do that again.'

'Well I just need to apologize so if you would please….' Seth motioned for the hand blocking the doorway. 'just let me talk to her. It'll be 10 minutes tops.'

Neil looked hesitantly from the doorway to the stairs and debated about allowing him in. It was as if he knew something was going that Seth didn't. Suddenly a smug grin came to Neil's face and he graciously stepped out of the way.

'You got 10 minutes. Though I believe you'll be leaving much sooner than that.' He crossed his arms as Seth passed him.

'Nice to see I have your support sir.'

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_Okay, just breathe Cohen. Everything will be juuust fine. Keep breathing. Your going to walk in there, declare your love for her, and completely erase any doubts she ever had about you. And as for those idiotic words you hashed out on her earlier at the pier? Completely redeemed. This should be just fine._

Seth stood outside of Summer's room and quietly pushed the door open. It was dark inside, the only source of light being the TV. A movie was on, Seth couldn't quite pick out which one. He couldn't really hear anything either, the TV was turned up way to loud for anyone's good.

'Sum…'

'Hmmm…'Summer moaned as she kept her gaze fixed on the screen.

'I just wanted to tell you how happy I am we're finally dating. It was about time you ditched that Cohen queer.' Zach made his move ever so subtly. He slowly reached an arm over an wrapped it around Summer's spread out body. She was sprawled right out on the bed with Zach lying next to her. She looked away from the screen and confusedly searched his eyes for any reasoning for his actions. Zach took both of his hands and cupped her face so she was looking only at him. She stared directly into his eyes frightfully but he just shook it off, and finally captured her lips with his.

Seth was still smirking to himself. He would rather stand outside her door and whip up possible scenarios as to how everything could turn out. They all mostly involved Summer ending up naked, but that was beside the point. It was the thought that counts.

He searched around the hallway for anything to give to her. He found a vase that was sitting right near the entrance to presumably her father's room. He pulled out a few of the fake flowers that were situated in there only for show. He grabbed them and shrugged. It was the thought that counted.

He bounded back toward Summer's room this time without stopping. He sprung the door wide open and with a smile. His original plan was to enter with the look of 'the man with the plan' and try to act confident. However his confidence was completely dashed within a matter of seconds.

'Summer….'It started out cheerful and finished off more upset and teary.

Summer was sprawled out across the bed with her head cocked entirely to the side making out with the guy beside her. Seth saw who the guy was, it was Zach, who else. They both sprung apart and looked up at him. Summer smacked Zach but kept her eyes fixed on Seth, while Zach was grinning cockily.

'S-Seth I….' Summer looked frantically around the room as if searching for a possible explanation. She whipped her head back around and finally took notice of what Seth had. He had flowers in his hand, though she distinctively remembered seeing those exact ones in her house earlier, but hey it was the thought that counts. It _was_ the thought, it was past tense now. Summer mentally smacked herself for screwing up yet again. She was beginning to feel like the saint in her and Cohen's….relationship? God she didn't know what they were.

'Uhhhh these are for you…hey Zach…' Seth didn't attempt to look up at them, instead finding something better to stare at on the ground. He blindly held his hand out for Summer to take the flowers. He rubbed his face and sniffled.

'I-I-I I gotta go…' Seth turned on his heel and sprung out of the room before either had a chance to explain. Well before _one_, had a chance. Zach was grinning like an idiot. Summer shook off her tearful emotions of receiving the _flowers_ from Seth and bounded down the stairs after him. Neil had his arms crossed and remained by the door as Seth ran by.

'Leaving so soon?" Neil smirked as Seth didn't even attempt to glare at him, and just ran out the open door. Neil however was not pleased with finding Summer racing out the door after him. He never had a chance to shut the door before she made it out, he was busy soaking in his trickery.

'Cohen wait…I'm sorry'

'No really Summer, I gotta go. Sorry I interrupted whatever you had going there.' Seth lowered his head as he started the car.

'So that's it? Your going to come over here and just leave. Talk to me Seth.'

'No I'd rather not, save that for your _boyfriend_'

'Don't be silly, you're my boyfr-' Summer stared absentmindedly at Seth and he just slowly nodded his head and shifted the car in gear. Realization dawned on Summer, Cohen was no longer _her's_. They weren't dating.

'See yeah. Enjoy the rest of your night…' Seth finally looked up and gave one last tearful gaze, then pulled out of the driveway. Summer remained frozen on the spot, watching for the second time that day, him leaving.

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Ryan sat in the poolhouse with his hands buried in his head. All of his worst suspicions were confirmed. Marissa didn't wait for him like he had hoped. She moved right along and found someone knew. Who the hell was that guy anyway? He sure as hell had never seen him. The thing that killed him the most was that Ryan actually _had_ waited for Marissa, its just that she never knew that. His relationship with Theresa was strictly based around the baby. The only reason he stayed after they lost the baby was so that Theresa wasn't utterly alone.

The pool house doors flung open and Seth came walking in with less swagger than before and was looking very depressed. Despite whatever was going on with Seth, Ryan felt like being alone.

'Seth, this is really isn't the best time….' Seth remained emotionless and did a complete 180 of Ryan's wishes. He plopped down on the chair and stared aimlessly into nowhere. Ryan just sighed then fell back on his bed. They remained quiet for several minutes.

'I really shouldn't have gone over there….' Ryan quietly muttered and swiped away furiously at his hair.

'I know what you mean, I know what you mean…'


	7. Behind Enemy Lines

**Behind Enemy Lines **

_Love _

What was the point of it? Was it supposed to make the heart grow fonder? Or was it in Seth's case, destined to only bring misery and heartbreak? Seth was having a serious problem seeing any upsides to it.

After leaving the pool house, where he joined Ryan in weeping and pondering in excruciating silence, Seth trudged up the stairs and straight to bed. Bed sounded like heaven to him. He dimmed the lights and closed the blinds so he could have some sort of _relaxation_ in his upcoming brooding stage.

God knows Seth needed it though. In one day of returning to school, it had been one hell of a roller coaster. He had already been thrown around, beaten up, and walked in on his _ex-girlfriend_ in a heavy make out session. _Ex?_ He never imagined the day would come that Summer would be his ex. He always thought the day he'd eventually get her to fall in love with him, he would be set and never give it up. But in true Cohen fashion, he had screwed that up.

Was it really time to finally let go of Summer? Get over her? Move on? He never dreamed of the day this would happen, because still to this day, his dreams are flooded with spending the rest of his life with her. He didn't want to be haunted by poisonous images of moving on from Summer and finding someone knew.

His eyes slowly closed shut and faded away into the darkness of his room, still heavy in thought about Summer and most importantly, his future.

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_The Valley, open ice cream container, Kleenex's flooding the room_

Sounds like your typical girls night in, which was supposed to inspire hope and cheer during your darkest of times. This was a sacred event, shared with those closest to you, to help you during your grieving process. Though to Summer, nothing sounded better than this. Which was scary all on its own, nobody looks forward to being comforted with feign sympathy by those supposedly closest to you, because that is only indication your life is falling apart. But right now, this all sounded like heaven to Summer.

Everything was so screwed up. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Actually, she had everything all planned out, it was supposed to be Seth on his knees begging for forgiveness and Summer savoring the power and control she would've been in.

But now it was the complete opposite. She was almost certain that Seth was hurt and disappointed about what had happened earlier in her room with Zach. Which meant her plans were going to be seriously reversed, and to make matters even worse, the thought of losing Seth all together was really beginning to tear away at her heart. Everything was turning out horribly, this was never _planned_ so that she lost Seth altogether. No It was meant for them to reevaluate their relationship and savior it for what it truly is. Not completely shatter it with one completely meaningless _kiss_.

_Kiss_

Who would've ever thought that a kiss could completely destroy a relationship. Sure it could be a really bad kiss, but it was usually something to overcome and improve on. But now, one kiss, one incredibly tasteless, meaningless, unnecessary kiss may have just ruined her life.

Summer's room was lit up only by the flittering images of _The Valley_ gracing her lonesome TV, in her even more lonesome room. If it wasn't for her TV, it was a safe bet it would be complete darkness, the only sounds being those of distant sniffles. For some reason, she felt more depressed than the day she found out her mother had left. Maybe it was because she was dealing with someone completely different, Seth. Losing her mother at the time felt like life was ripping her heart out and stomping on it. But just the possibility of losing Seth, was beginning to make her realize that for the second time in her life, she was losing someone.

Her eyes dozed off into a deep slumber, with only one thought grazing her overloading mind. _Getting back her Cohen_

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"Hey man, how you doing?" Ryan's voice boomed and echoed through Seth's room as he entered with a coffee and bagel in hand. It was now morning, and Seth was still buried amongst his blankets, desperately hoping they would absorb him altogether. He was dreading this day. He never even got any sleep, instead opting to play his stereo all night just low enough for his distant ears to hear. Ryan peered around the room, taking one look at the room gave him the insight on how Seth's night must've been.

"Ah, Boys II Men..That great of a night?" Ryan walked across the room and shut off the stereo. He returned to Seth's bedside and set the coffee and bagel down on his night table.

Seth groaned, and shoved the blankets off angrily and sitting himself upright to see Ryan. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was stained in dried tears. Ryan sighed frustratingly and sat at the end of Seth's bed. He hated seeing Seth so downbeat.

"Yes, my night was just grand." Seth deadpanned and grabbed the coffee mug and took a big gulp of it. He really could care less if he burned his mouth, at least it would be a distraction to the burning in his heart.

"Well hey man, look on the bright side. At least now you can get more ladies to swoon to the ol'Cohen charm." Ryan tried to excite him and shook Seth's dangling feet from the end of the bed, and plastered on his best emphasized smile. It clearly failed, as Seth was staring incredulously at him.

"The bright side?!" Seth stared in sheer shock and frustration. "What possible bright side do you see from this?" Seth shook his head angrily and scoffed. He rose from his bed and moved toward his dresser to slip on his robe. "Sorry man, but I just don't see anything to be cheerful about…thanks for the coffee.." Seth grumbled and began to trudge down the stairs to do the mandatory Cohen family morning greeting.

Seth's mind was doing summersaults, twisting his brain, straddling his conscience. He really didn't need Ryan's ill fated motivational speech, which turned out disasterously. Didn't he know what it felt like to be in love? Was he even in love with Marissa? Seth shook off the thoughts and sheer realization hit him. Ryan and Marissa's relationship had absolutely no bearings to that of his and Summer's.

"Hello mother…father.." Seth smiled weakly and joined his parents by the dinner table. Minutes later, Ryan came moping into the kitchen with his head lowered. Kirsten and Sandy both watched as their son's looked completely and utterly miserable. This was so not the way they were planning Ryan's first day back into the house. Ryan seated himself beside Seth, still with his head lowered.

"So Ryan." Kirsten smiled as she was finally able to get the boy to look her in the eye. "How's it feel to be back in Newport again?" Sandy shot Kirsten a look and her face drowned of all color once she realized she may have just triggered a whole new wave of emotions within the boys.

"Just grand." Ryan looked at Seth and smirked, Seth stared on aimlessly at his mug, but a faint smile creased onto his lips.

"I'm sensing sarcasm, but nonetheless, this time around will be better." Kirsten sipped on her mug but kept her gaze fixed on her dreary boys. Sandy watched on as the boys showed no emotion to Kirsten's desperate attempts of getting them to open up, so he decided to take a stab at it.

"So Seth, how does it feel to be home after being away from us all _summer_?" Seth's face dropped as he took extreme notice to the end of Sandy's comment. Kirsten shot a glare at Sandy and he literally smacked himself on the head. Seth and Ryan grinned at the loud noise that came from Sandy's skull.

"Gee dad, that sounded hollow. Almost as if nothing's in it." Seth pried his mouth open and faked a shocked look, and covered his mouth with his hand. They all grinned but that was all. No laughing, no Sandy Cohen one liner retaliations.

"Seth you really are a Cohen." Ryan stated knowingly, which caused Seth to stare confusedly at him until he eventually got the point.

"We make jokes in the _**worst**_ of situations…I mean _**during**_ the worst situations.." The 4 fell into an awkward silence, and this time no one attempted to break it. Instead choosing to sit silently, the only noise coming from the sipping of coffee.

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"Oh god dude, don't leave me." Seth gripped onto the arm rest and stared frighteningly out the window. Ever since Ryan returned, he never once thought about the amount of time he'd still have to endure until Ryan got reinstated back into the school. Which hopefully only took a day.

"Its just school Seth, relax." Ryan scoffed and kept his eyes set on the road.

"That's just it man…_Its _school! Complete with everyone making fun of me and talking about _**summer**_" Ryan perked his eyes over at Seth and frowned his eyebrows. "I mean their summers…the season dude, not..the person."

"It'll be fine. You already went one day without me, I'm sure the second can't be too bad."

"That _one day_ was hell"

"Well you'll have to deal with it man. So I'll see you at the house after school." Ryan parked the car in the drop off zone and waited for Seth to get out.

"I don't want to go I hate school" Ryan smirked as Seth rambled on, knowing exactly the reason why Seth hated it. Sure the taunting and humiliating played a part in it, but iwas mainly centered around Summer and wherever her and him stood that week. It always depended on the week.

"Maybe Summer won't be there."

"You think? God I hope so, cause I don't know what I'll do if I see her. I might let something slip unintentionally."

"Well why don't you go and find out." Ryan laughed and ushered him out the door. Seth was laughing too as he was being forced out the door. Suddenly Ryan's face drowned of all color, and his eyes looked like they were bulging out of his skull. He quickly gave one last wave before speeding out of the parking lot and back home.

"Was that Ryan?" Seth slightly jumped on the spot and whipped his head around to find Marissa staring at him, with her books held tight to her chest.

"Jesus you scared me…Uhh did y-y-you think that was Ryan? I don't know I didn't quite get a good look at him…I d-d-don't think t-t-that was Ryan"

"Seth, don't play dumb with me. I know it was."

"Than why did you ask in the first place?" Marissa stuck her tongue out at him, in which Seth returned back to her.

"So uhhh….How are you doing?" Seth didn't quite know where he and Marissa stood in their relationship. The only real connection they shared was through Ryan and the fact that they'd been neighbors practically their entire life. Also they both shared bits and pieces of hobbies or interests that they liked. But other than that, on paper they looked like complete strangers.

"Good…." Seth frantically nodded in understanding as Marissa licked her lips and stared off behind Seth. They never had been very good at having an actual conversation without either Ryan or Summer. "So is he…-"

"-Mad? I don't know. He never really talked to me about it…" Marissa slouched down a bit, and frowned. "So where's…-"

"-Summer? I don't know. I went to pick her up this morning and she was gone."

"Probably at _Zach's_." Seth scoffed. Marissa saw how drained and upset Seth looked just at the prospect of hearing Zach's name together with Summer. She smiled sympathetically at Seth, and it was at that moment she decided to try and cheer him up.

"Hey Seth." She called and he turned on his heel to face her. He was just beginning to make his way toward the school, but turned back to see her. "Wanna blow school off and go get some breakfast…or brunch?"

"Sure. I'm starved" Seth breathed a sigh of relief and rejoined Marissa as the two made their way silent towards her car. Seth was relieved that he didn't have to face Summer, though he wasn't entire sure she was even there, seeing as Marissa had no clue where she was. He was no where near ready with seeing her again.

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"Summer?" Ryan answered the door bewildered at the fact Summer Roberts was at the door, not in school attire at all. In fact she looked like she hadn't slept at all and her hair was all scrunched up.

"Is Seth here?"

"Uhh..no he's at school. Which is where you should be."

"Thank god." Summer brushed past Ryan and into the foyer.

"Come on in Summer…" Ryan mumbled as he shut the door and turned to face Summer.

"Can we talk?" Summer seemed disturbed and antsy, two traits that even Seth had probably never seen. Realizing Summer's state, he nodded and led her into the living room.

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"Is he mad at me?" Marissa winced her eyes shut and hoped for a positive answer. Her and Seth were seated in the gang's favorite booth at the diner and they were both well into their meals.

"Well I don't know Marissa. The man comes back from a forced relationship, only to find the one girl he thought endlessly about all summer, in a hot make out session with some guy he's never seen." Okay so Seth lied. Ryan did fill him in a bit on what happened with him and Marissa, and Seth returned the favor to Ryan. It seemed Ryan and Seth's roles had changed significantly. Ryan was the more open on his relationship, while Seth was more silent and brooding.

Marissa lowered her head and began twirling around her food with her fork. Seth was unintentionally glaring at her, only because it was a heat of the moment type of deal. That whole outburst sort of made him realize just how much he should _actually_ be pissed at her. He felt like he was betraying Ryan by talking to her, god knows Ryan would never talk to Summer after she hurt Seth so badly.

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"Summer?" Ryan gulped and watched as Summer stifled back tears and buried her head in her hands.

"I messed up Ryan." His eyes lit up with sheer shock and pity. Never before had he heard Summer openly admit she was wrong. She was always the strong type, and would argue about anything.

"I know you did. Seth filled me in on all of it." Ryan crossed his arms but kept a stern look on his face. He really didn't see much reason for him to console her, not after hearing what happened to Seth.

"Gee, can you be at least a bit sympathetic for me." Summer snarled and rubbed a hand over her face, wiping off any threatening tears and more importantly, frustration off her face.

"I really don't see any reason why I should be." Summer looked up with her jaw dropped, but quickly replaced it with a glare.

"Oh my god, why did I even bother coming here." Summer stood up from the couch and made her way towards the foyer.

"I don't know, you tell me." Summer halted at the living room intersection with the foyer, and gave an icy stare back at him. "How does it feel to be the one that's screwed up? Now you know how you made Seth feel all of last year."

"WHAT?" Summer yelled. Ryan sighed. _Oh boy, here it comes_. He just saw within seconds Summer turn from the open hearted, guilt driven girl, right back into her old former arguing and guilt denying self. "I can not believe you just said that. You only know Cohen's side of everything. Which I remind you, is all bullshit!"

"Oh really? So you ignoring him, blowing him off at cotillion, oh yeah, than denying your relationship at school is all his fault?!" Ryan rose from his chair, in a very similar situation as Seth was in at the diner. Just a heat of the moment.

"This _IS_ his fault. If he didn't be such a geeky ass, loser of a boyfriend and sail off like a bitch on his littler boat, we'd still be together! This is all his fault!" Summer roared and a few tears trickled down her cheek. Ryan didn't let up though, not even to the sight of her crying. He didn't like taking the Cohen's for granted, and he sure wasn't going to start now. He would forever be with them, on every issue or problem. And he'd do anything to protect them.

"Do you ever wonder why the hell he left in the first place!-" Ryan shouted right back at her, with the same velocity and intensity as she did.

"He finally realized he was a loner and _thought_ I'd leave him too, like you did." Ryan felt the sting of that comment, and took it to heart. He hated hearing about Seth leaving because of him, even though it _was_ childish and immature of him to take off and leave just because of Ryan. It all came back to his whole theory of protecting the Cohen's, and if him leaving meant it would tear them apart? Well he just figured he'd never leave again. For the Cohen's sake. "-He thought he'd go back to the old comic book loving, shitty music listening geek that he used to be, which P.S he still is. God didn't he know that if I put up with his shit for that long already, that I'd be able to put up with more of it?"

Ryan felt his blood boiling just at the sound of the hateful words firing out of Summer, and his fists were scrunched tightly in his pockets, digging furiously deeper and deeper into them. Summer sighed triumphantly and turned to leave.

"So you really think he was insecure and selfish?" Ryan softly bellowed behind her, causing her to turn once again to face him. She was ready to snarl right back and fire away at him if he decided to go another round. " Maybe it's because of all the heartbreak and denial he's been through with you not even realizing after all the years of watching you from the shadows. Or maybe its because of your partying habits and all those random make out sessions he had to witness" Summer rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. She waved a hand dismissingly at him and turned to leave.

"Or maybe its because you dumped him over your dad….maybe that has something to do with all of those insecurities you were saying he had…Than, he comes back after only _2 MONTHS _of being away to find you right back into another serious relationship, even worse making out right in front of him!" Ryan shouted at her, but this time wasn't met with a quick retaliation from Summer.

She leaned her hand against the wall for support and her other arm was covering her mouth. She was staring aimlessly at the floor and the tears were flooding out now, she made no attempt to conceal them.

"Oh god Summer.." Ryan felt a ping of guilt surge through him and he cut across the room to comfort her.

"Don't Ryan.." She softly whispered and choked back tears. "You're right…I can't believe I caused all of this…" Her mouth was wide open and her hand was covering it in sheer guilt and sadness toward her being the cause of all of this. "I-I-I've gotta go."

Summer turned on her heel and ran out of the room, with both hands spread across her tear stained face, trying to prevent the bevies of upcoming tears to fall. Ryan sat back down in his chair and closed his eyes. He felt a mixture of satisfaction and sorrow. Sorrow for hurting Summer like that, but his feelings were predominantly satisfaction. Maybe defending Seth's honor like that would help fill the black hole of regret that was continually growing from being the reason Seth left in the first place.

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"Screw you Cohen, don't act like your all innocent and perfect!" Marissa was yelling at Seth, and he was yelling right back, both completely ignoring the surrounding eyes and their food. They were in an all out shout fest.

"Don't call me Cohen, only Summer can call me that."

"Its your last name dumbass, and secondly Summer's not even your girlfriend anymore, so I'd be surprised if she calls you anything. It'll be just like it was before Ryan came." Marissa screamed at Seth, and this time Seth just slouched back into the booth. He really didn't feel like eating _now_, it was safe to say all appetite was gone.

She felt pity flow through her when she saw how hurt Seth looked at hearing her comment. But served him right, she had to keep reminding herself she was on Summer's side and always had to support her.

"Well I hope you're not expecting flowers, or fake flowers for that matter coming from Ryan anytime soon." Seth softly spoke from his slouched position, than briefly let out a smile, at the thought of what Summer's reaction _could've_ been if she was alone that night when he went to see her.

"Shut up, you're so pathetic…" Marissa choked back tears and instead decided to go the route of anger and frustration towards Seth.

"Whatever, why don't you do everyone a favor and go find DJ." Marissa jaw dropped and her face drained of color. "Yeah that's right, I found out who he is. That's not very nice of you using him like that Riss, just because he's the gardener doesn't mean he doesn't have rights."

"Only Ryan can call me _Riss_. And secondly you don't know shit about DJ so shut up!" Marissa backed out of the booth but kept on glaring down at Seth.

"First of all, its your nickname…sort of…_dumbass..._secondly 'you and Ryan aren't together' and quite frankly I don't see that changing in the future." Seth smirked. He used Marisa's own words against her, and very nicely too.

Marissa was fuming and she stepped forward and smacked Seth across the face before storming out of the diner. For the first time Seth checked his surroundings, and the very few workers in there were all staring amusedly at him.

"Check please!"

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Seth finally arrived at the doorstep of his house, and he tiredly entered the house. He was forced to take the long walk home from the diner, since Marissa bolted and left him stranded. He really didn't feel like putting all of that effort into walking just to go to school, so he decided he'd skip school and head straight home.

"Hey…What are you doing here?" Ryan's voice alerted Seth and he cut across the foyer and into the living room. He plopped down on the exact spot Summer had been bawling her eyes out from earlier, and Ryan immediately felt uneasy.

"Loooong Story man.." Seth frowned and his raised his eyebrows as he guided his hand along the cushion of the chair. "Is it wet here or is it just me?"

"Just you.." Ryan shot out, causing Seth to look at him funny. Seth shrugged it off and stared straight ahead at the tiny plant pot situated across the room. He really didn't know how to bring up his and Marissa's talk.

Ryan felt like the worst person in the world. He knew that in reality he really didn't do anything wrong, but to Seth, he just committed the biggest type of betrayal ever. But he didn't blame him, god knew if Seth was going behind his back and consoling Marissa he'd be ticked as ever.

"So I talked to Marissa…" Seth blurted out.

"So I talked to Summer.." Ryan quickly muttered at the exact same time as Seth, in unison.

"What!?" They both repeated in unison. Seth snickered and Ryan grinned at their timing. Ryan gestured for him to go on.

"Well I had breakfast, or lunch, I mean brunch with her at the diner…and it didn't go particularly well…there were words exchanged…not nice ones."

"I had the same talk with Summer…She came in here yelling about everything being your fault…don't worry I defended your honor." Ryan smirked at Seth and he smiled.

"Thanks man, seriously. That's like the most above and beyond thing you've ever done for me."

"Same with you man. But I'm gonna have to get you to fill me in on the details later.." Seth nodded and gave a sheepish grin. He knew damn well that was going to be one hell of a conversation.

"One tiny thing though, I assure you your encounter with Summer doesn't involve a slap." Ryan's eyes bulged out and his jaw dropped, flabbergasted that Marissa would do that. Seth just smiled and continually nodded.

" I swear if it turns into a bruise, I might have to get Lil Miss Vixen to unleash her rage blackout on her. Though if _your_ talk went as bad as you're saying, that might be a bit difficult.." Ryan smiled and nodded.

**Next chapter: Marissa/Summer talk…Seth moving on? Ryan moving on?**


	8. Take One For The Team

**Take One For The Team**

"I wish I was still in Portland."

"Surprisingly I wish I was still in Chino…"

Seth and Ryan both grunted and slouched even further into their seats. It was morning, and both were only 2 days removed from each of their own incidents with Summer and Marissa. They had stayed up all night discussing Seth and Marissa's talk, as well as Ryan and Summer's.

Seth was completely stunned at the words exchanged between Ryan and Summer, and seeing as Ryan is the type of 'no holds barred' kind of guy, he repeated each word from the conversation word for word. He never heard Summer talk about him in that kind of way. Sure they had their issues when they were a couple, but the bantering and teasing always seemed like their way of flirting and growing closer, to him at least. Just thinking about all the hurtful and degrading words Summer fired at Ryan about him was enough to make him sick. Was all that bantering, teasing and hitting they used to do truly out of spite? Did she _**really**_ hate him all that time?

Ryan on the other hand, was pissed off about everything that occurred in Seth's talk with Marissa. He was pissed at the way Marissa handled everything. Seth had told him how nonchalantly and low she spoke of DJ, even worse never even mentioning his name. The only reason it had come out was because Seth had _had_ a run in with him out on the curb one day. It seemed to him everyone was hating on Seth, and he didn't like it at all. He was his best friend, and as far as he was concerned, every single problem Seth had came right back to him. _His_ fault for leaving.

"I think its safe to say we're gunna have to stick together this year…" Seth spoke barely above a whisper as he poured himself a glass of juice and kept his eyes seared on the newspaper.

"Mhmm." Ryan mumbled as he stared blankly out the window behind Seth and slowly sipped on his coffee. It was a very, very quiet morning, especially since Sandy and Kirsten both left early for '_work_', as they put it. But Seth wasn't scared to say they were just looking for sometime alone, which was followed by him spitting some juice out.

Ryan was all set and registered for _his _first day of year, and only the third day of classes

at Harbor in general. To think, this time _**last**_ year, he was blowing off evaluation tests to apply at Harbor just to go and stop Julie from shipping Marissa off to a mental hospital. _**Now**_, it was safe to say he didn't want to touch her with a 30 foot pole. Seth had two girls crawling all over him. _**Now**_, one was half way across the country and the other has been only causing harm as apposed to good, ripping his heart out and stomping all over it. He quickly snapped out of his last year memories, and refocused his attention to his breakfast. _Thinking of last year is definitely Seth's kind of thing_, Ryan thought as he slowly forced a spoonful of cereal down his throat.

"-I mean, I was a loser _all_ of that time right, right?" Seth broke into a rant and stared intently at Ryan, awaiting an answer. He just widened his eyes and gave a bewildered look. "So why the hell was she even with me? Just to pass time? Was I really a time waster Ryan? Me? Time waister?…Me…" Seth shook Ryan's shoulders back and forth." Why the hell didn't she just date Zach last year?" He calmed down and reassumed his seat, slouching even further after his outburst.

Ryan had no clue what the hell that was, he didn't hear a word Seth had said before up to that point, apparently he explained everything in _detail_ while he was zoned out in Last Year Land. Ryan peered his eyes over at Seth, and he was now even more down than before. Down physically, his body was practically jello on the seat and he was slouched even further, and mentally, his mind was obviously elsewhere and continued to roam other dimensions after his rant. _20 bucks he thinking about Summer_, Ryan thought as he observed Seth's mood.

But it was not to say he was any better. Its just he was a lot more skilled at channeling his emotions than Seth. Seth literally wore his heat on his sleeve, which caused him much more than intended heartbreak. While he on the other hand, preferred to keep everything inside and not voice any of his inner pain, and god knows there's a lot of it.

"You know, I just can't believe I actually thought Marissa felt the same way about me…" Seth's eyes perked up and sat up more in his seat to hear Ryan's voice, it was soft and quiet. He was even more surprised that Ryan was speaking _at all_ about what was going on with him. " I spent all summer, I mean _**all summer**_, thinking about her and how much I missed her. Not _one _day went by without me wishing I was back here with everyone, where I belong, with her."

Seth slowly nodded as he listened to him. He understood _exactly_ where he was coming from, he felt he was in the exact same situation he was in. Ryan coming home from Chino to get Marissa back, him coming back from Portland just to _see_ Summer, because he understood at the time she probably wouldn't be in a very forgiving mood. He just didn't expect her to move on so quickly. He realized a long time ago that he would have to see her date other people, but so soon? If they had just hooked up a week before school started or something, he would understand, but when he found out that after their 4th of July blowout, she instantly found Zach and spent most of the summer with him.

Thinking of how quickly Summer moved on only made him even more disgusted and lonely. It put his mind into overdrive. He began plotting different scenarios in his head. What if he never left? Would she have _still_ moved on and broke up with him? Than immediately run into Zach's arms? The thought disturbed him.

Ryan quietly laughed evilly, remorse writhing off of his voice. "I had this _stupid_ idea in my head all summer, that Marissa was feeling the exact same way as me and she was just _waiting_ for me to come back…" Seth slowly nodded his head. "Some idea that turned out to be huh?"

"Well, look at the bright side." Ryan shot him a stern look, and raised his eyebrows. Clearly questioning the 'bright side' to their situation. "At least we have each other." Seth grinned sheepishly and shoveled cereal into his mouth. Ryan laughed and shook his head feebly.

"There's some good news."

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"Oh my god Coop, I can't believe you slapped Cohen." Summer bellowed exasperatedly and continued applying her makeup. It was a mere 10 minutes since they both told each other of their individual conversations with the other's ex's. Summer was still stunned at the fact that, Seth Cohen, was her ex.

"Well he deserved it, he was being such a shithead to me Sum. Thank god you two aren't together anymore, your so much better off." Marissa scoffed and rummaged through her dresser for some decent shoes to match her outfit. They were both in their usual routine, Summer comes over before school, then they both observe and input the other's outfit. Typical Orange County tradition.

Summer stopped dabbing on her eyeliner and stared at Marissa through the mirror, with a blank look. She was still focused on finding her shoes, and Summer's face turned a quick shade of white, a color that even blush couldn't cover.

Was Cohen and her really done? Or were they eventually going to get back together? She had never really thought that far ahead into the future, but she hoped it would be the latter. She couldn't survive without Seth at least being somewhat involved in her life. Even if it was just as a friend, she still needed him. Maybe even more than a friend.

"Well I guess its only fitting, seeing as he probably will never talk to me after the encounter I had with Ryan yesterday. On top of everything that's gone on this week…" Summer's voice softened and she choked out the last bit. It infuriated her how much she had screwed up in the past week. This definitely wasn't her week.

"Don't worry Sum, everything will work out for the best." Marissa hollered from deep in her walk in closet, and still paid no attention to Summer. Summer scoffed and rolled her eyes from the bedside stool, and continued to get ready. _Some best friend, cares more about her matching shoes than me…Typical Newport._

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"So what's the G.P, R.A?" Seth sighed and tugged his backpack tighter to him. He stepped away from the car and walked around to the front of it, as he waited for Ryan to grab his things. Ryan joined him and stood beside him, with a questioning look and scratched his head. "Game plan. Ryan Atwood."

"Were using initials now?"

"They save time."

"Not if you have to translate them."

"G.P."

"Game plan?" Ryan smiled proudly to himself at his answer.

"Good point." Seth trotted away from him and began the long walk towards the front of the stairs, leading to the front of the building. Ryan chased after him. "So…whats the game plan?"

"Since when do we ever have a game plan?"

"It helps Ryan. It could help prevent several problems we may run into this year, actually scratch that, _will _run into."

"What exactly are you implying?" Ryan raised his eyebrows and looked over at him.

"Dude, we're like peanut butter and jelly-

"-Please do not refer to us as peanut butter and jelly ever again." Ryan interrupted and shook his head furiously.

"Whatever man, as I was saying before you rudely interrupted…" He squinted his eyes together and gave a mock evil look beside him at Ryan, who was beginning to march up the stairs. "We're like peanut butter and jelly, don't you roll your eyes either man. If we _had_ a _game plan_, we could mix better." Seth smiled confidently at his analogy as he steadily paced himself up the stairs. Ryan came to a halt at the top of the stairs and glared back at Seth. Seth gulped and smiled nervously. "Fine man, we're like Shaq and Kobe…better?" Ryan laughed and shook his head as he continued up the last step and toward the main doors, where kids were scattered about, surrounding the entrance.

"So why do we all of a sudden need a game plan now?"

"Well…" Seth came to sudden stop and choked on his words. Ryan turned and gave an amused look, he was enjoying every minute of Seth being tongue tied.

"What's the matter Seth? All _**choked**_ up for words?" Ryan's grin grew bigger, but was quickly erased when Seth pointed a finger at a small crowd gathered to the right of the main doors. He spun his head around to see what he was looking at, and instantly saw why he was tongue tied. It was Marissa and Summer, in their usual hangout spot with Holly, Nordlund, Zach and most of the water polo team.

They both turned their backs to them and were looking back out at the parking lot.

"So as I was saying, that could be a reason." Seth chimed in, referring to the scene behind him. Ryan nodded and continued looking out at all the cars.

"How about, we go to school like civilized human beings, than we leave school like civilized human beings?"

"That seems kinda lame…Ryan, this plan can be the result of our love lives at Harbor this year." Seth chimed in, and Ryan grunted and gave the famous Atwood glare. Seth smiled nervously and started twiddling his thumbs. " I mean, that plan sounds fool proof. I wish I had thought of that." Ryan gave another glare. "Aw hell who are we kidding, we're screwed anyway." They both broke into laughter and sighed heavily before turning around to face what was behind them.

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They both made a beeline directly for the doors beside the girls, and kept their heads lowered. Ryan was definitely in no mood to talk with Marissa, as was Seth in no mood to see Summer. Though Seth knew his whole 'pissed off' at Summer look would crumble right in front of him as soon as he caught sight of her.

"What are you doing!?" Ryan hissed as Seth started to break further away, and was unaware that he was heading in the direction of Summer.

"Relax man…I'm playing it smooth…" Seth turned and began walking backwards, facing Ryan and his back to Summer. He grinned widely at him and gave a thumbs up. Quicker than he gained his new found confidence, he lost it. He stumbled backward and tripped over a slightly misaligned tile, and came crashing to the ground.

Ryan smirked but kept walking, as short glimpses and eager eyes wandered over toward Seth. "_Real smooth._" Ryan whispered as he passed by, but kept his head lowered to the ground as he broke into laughter.

"What a loser." Nordlund scoffed and laughed amongst the fellow water polo players. Ryan came to a halt beside them and clutched his fists tightly together and glared at them. The crowd took notice of Ryan's intense glaring and averted their attention to him. Summer and Marissa were nearing the front of the pack, making their way slowly to the front to see what the commotion was. "What're you lookin' at trailer trash?" Brad laughed and high fived Nordlund.

"Hey to you too. Its nice to see you guys have expanded your vocabulary since the last time I saw you." Seth yelled from across the courtyard, and grinned at Ryan, who tried to maintain his pissed off glare on the water polo boys, but failed miserably and smirked.

Summer weaved her way through the crowd, dragging Marissa rather violently between bodies, as she aggressively forced her way through the crowd. _**It's nice to see you guys expanded your vocabulary since the last time I saw you**_. Summer whipped her head up. There was only one person who would even so much as think to say that to the water polo guys. She swerved through the remaining few students, and sure enough, found the tall, lanky, jew fro geek smirking proudly, seemingly at her. His gaze was fixed just behind her, and a few inches up. She stared elusively at him, until he finally caught eye of her. She felt her chest stiffen up, and her heart began pounding rapidly. How did a geek like Seth ever manage to make her do these kinds of things? It was a mystery to her.

Seth gulped and felt sweat trickle down his spine. _**Summer**_. Just seeing her sent his whole body into overdrive, and soon enough, his mind would follow suit. He felt his palms getting clammy, and his hair was lightly sprinkled with misty sweat, while his feet seemed glued to the spot he was on. It was physically impossible for him to move now, mentally too.

Summer slowly broke away from the crowd, and found herself inching towards him, ignoring the unflattering looks Zach was most likely shooting her.

Ryan's posture stiffened once he saw Marissa appear out of the crowd with Summer, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he started panicking. Just not as dramatic as Seth did. He saw Summer slowly breaking away from Marissa's grasp and was heading back toward the staircase to Seth, and he figured it was only a matter of time until Marissa followed suit and came to him.

_Damn it, why am I always right?_ Ryan cursed under his breath as he watched Marissa pick up her pace and approach him. He knew all she wanted was to make up some lie and bullshit excuse about what he saw that night at her house. Then she'd expect her explanation would clear everything up. _Yeah right._ It'll take more than that for them to resolve their issues, and god there were a lot of them.

"Seth…" He cringed when he heard her bellow his name. There were only two occasions when she'd use his first name, that he could recall. One was when she was sorry for him and sympathetic, and two she was flat out pissed off at him. His muscles tensed up in preparation of the possibility it was the latter. "I was just wondering if we could talk."

Seth screwed his eyes together, and gave her a confused look. She seemed almost, _almost_ like she wanted to have an honest conversation with him. He smiled nervously as she watched her sigh and begin to gather her thoughts. It was still the funniest thing to him that he could see right through her and read her like a book.

Seth's eyes traveled over top of Summer, which wasn't too difficult, and surveyed his surroundings. Mostly everyone had gone back to their original chatting and had already grown bored of the scene involving him. He breathed a sigh of relief at this, realizing he didn't have to go through another humiliation public confrontation. His eyes wandered over to Ryan, and his face was a flushed and he was frantically smiling and glancing nervously anywhere except Marissa.

"-So Cohen I just wanted to talk about _us_, and get everything out of the way." He swung his attention back to the brunette in front of him and dropped his jaw at her last declaration. There is an _us_? That could only mean good things for them, right? Shouldn't he still be pissed off? "-So we can get move on and get on with our lives." He nodded slowly, and looked down at his shoes. _Well there goes that theory_. Sadness soared through him in heavy surges, and he felt compelled to escape this conversation, or at least delay it for another time.

Thud 

He whipped his eyes away from Summer and looked across the courtyard beside the main doors. He saw Ryan hobbling on one foot and Marissa storming towards them, on her way towards the car park. He decided to use this to his advantage.

"Ahh sorry Summer, we'll this will have to wait." She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. Ryan was sitting on the nearby bench rubbing his shin. Summer gave him an irritated look. " Oh right…explanation…hahaha your perceptive Summer…Well see…I have to go help Ryan tie his shoes, as you can see he still struggles with the single loop. We're trying to get him away from double looping so, bye!" He sprang away from her and headed towards Ryan.

"But he's wearing sandals!" Summer hollered from behind, but he kept his pace set towards the bench. She sighed and trudged back dully to her group of "cool" people.

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"Dude, we have got to go. Now. I was not ready for this…Summer wants to completely end all connections with me and go back to ignoring me, and I cannot have that." Ryan sat up straight on the bench for the first time since Seth joined him. "What's up with you."

"Marissa…" He sighed angrily and stared at the ground. Seth nodded encouragingly for him to finish. "We basically yelled at each other and she topped it off with a boot to the shin."

"Oooh. Ouch…Way to take one for the team." Seth fought back a smirk. " That Marissa sure has taken violence to an all-time high these few days."

"Something's up with her, she's just not the same…" He breathed heavily and shook his head at the thought of the _new_ Marissa.

"Well obviously, she's Marissa. Drama is her middle name."

"I don't know, this just seems different than from the past." Seth kept his mouth shut and fought back a smart remark when he saw Ryan visibly dejected.

"Oh by the way I'm helping you tie your shoes."

"WHAT?!" Ryan bellowed both enthused and intrigued at how Seth managed to get in whatever predicament he was in.

"Oh no reason…" Ryan rolled his eyes and broke into small laughter. "duh Summer!" Seth spoke annoyingly and Ryan continued laughing.

"Cohen!" Seth felt the hairs on his skin bolt up and he closed his eyes. Ryan shifted his gaze towards the approaching brunette.

"You can't keep avoiding her…" He whispered as they watched Summer make her way to them.

"Yes I can and I will. I'm delaying the inevitable is what I'm doing Ryan…"

"Summer!" Ryan bellowed, his voice dripping in fake excitement and sarcasm. Summer rolled her eyes and completely ignored him, instead focusing on Seth.

"I thought you had to tie his shoes Cohen." Summer placed her hands on her hips and smirked devilishly as Seth began to scramble for excuses.

"Haha you see about that…Ryan's not really a fan of the lace so I had to…-" He trailed off, still in search of a decent excuse.

"-Help adjust the Velcro" Ryan finished matter-of-factly and plastered another fake smile. Seth nodded and gave his own smile. " I'm not much of a fan of that so….yeah." Ryan mentally slapped himself for making an absolute idiot of himself, just for the sake of saving Seth's ass.

"Enough of this shoe crap Cohen, can we talk?" He sighed and slowly nodded his head. He knew that this conversation was going to be the final nail in the coffin that was their relationship. One of them was going to take things to far and say something heart breaking or harmful.

"Sum baby, come on I'll walk with you to math." Nordlund and his entourage saunter over towards her. Seth grunted and check his watch. _Since when is it considered cool going to class 10 minutes early._ Anger rose inside of him and he stared enviously at him. _What a lame attempt at flirting shit head._ "Get you away from loner boy and hillbilly here." His posse of preps laughed amongst each other and gave him high fives at his terrible call.

"Seriously what the hell is your problem?" Ryan was the first to jump to his feet. He clutched his fists tightly into his pockets.

"My _problem_, is why do people even bother giving you two the time of day? I mean, your nothing…both of you."

"Its their choice man. Can't resist the Cohen/Atwood charm I guess." Seth chimed in as he leaned back into the bench and stretched his arms out. Ryan smirked briefly before returning to his angered pissed off glare. Summer clutched her books tightly against her, and lowered her head, smiling to herself. It was the first real show of emotion that day from her, it seemed the only look you could get from her was either an annoyed one or a straight up pissed off look.

"You think you're real funny don't you shit head." Nordlund made an attempt to grab Seth but Ryan put a firm arm in the way.

"Just leave man, before you embarrass yourself anymore." Norlund stepped back and gave a satisfied nod. He adjusted his shirt and turned to leave.

"Heres two bucks, get out of that hole you live in and buy yourself a box." He tossed a handful of coins backward at them. "Better yet, you two get back on that little sail boat and make friends with the fishies. Hell _ANY_ friends for geek over there." He scoffed, with his laughing entourage behind him, and headed towards the main doors. Summer remained on the spot and kept her gaze fixed on Seth. He was trying to calm Ryan down, and apparently it failed as Ryan broke free and was approaching the group.

"This can't be good…" Seth walked over and stood beside Summer, joining her in watching the events unfold.

"Hey jackass." They came to a screeching halt, and Nordlund peered around and made his way through the small group to face Ryan. " I don't deal with chump change." He slugged him with a hard right, sending him stumbling backward into the school sign. Ryan bolted towards the staircase, not once checking to see if Seth was following.

"That was awesome!" Sure enough he was, and he was a mere 10 yards away from being caught by the oncoming water polo players. They picked their speed up.

"We'll have to have that talk later Sum!" Seth yelled blindly into the air as he descended the stairs behind Ryan. Summer crept over to the railing and peered down, much like the rest of the remaining student body, at the chase through the parking lot. She sighed and weaved her way through the crowd and began to descend down the stairs also, only at a much slower pace.

This was not what she was expecting at all. Seth avoiding her, Marissa hitting a violent streak, Ryan joining the violent bandwagon also. Seeing as none of the other 3 previously mentioned _friends_ had left school, she decided to leave also. Was everyone even friends with everybody anymore?


	9. The Bait Shop?

**The Bait Shop?**

"Suspended!?!" Sandy scoffed incredulously. "What for?…I understand Dr.Kim, as you know, that is very uncharacteristic of him…Yes I know…Okay thanks for calling." Sandy set the phone down and sighed heavily. The boys and Kirsten, were all seated at the dining table, waiting for Sandy to explain is phone call.

"That was Dr.Kim calling to notify us that Ryan has been suspended indefinitely." Ryan nodded grimly and continued snacking away at his cereal, while Seth's face went a ghostly pale white. Ryan, otherwise none as his protection and shield away from the army of water polo players, was suspended.

"It's a little late for her to be calling, don't you think?" Kirsten questioned and sipped on her coffee mug.

"Well apparently, the boy just came to her this morning and notified the school that Ryan _assaulted_ him." Ryan grunted and rolled his eyes angrily, while Kirsten encouragingly nodded for Sandy to continue.

"I guess Mr.Waterpolo player's true colors are finally showing." Seth took a sip of his coffee and smirked behind the mug.

"What exactly happened?" Sandy asked, while leaning on the countertop. "Because according to him, this all came out of the blue." The boys shook their head, keeping their annoyed and pissed off comments to themselves. "Well then, on purpose or not, you're suspended until further notice. I'll call Dr.Kim up later and see what I can do about this." Sandy walked around the table and planted a kiss on Kirsten's cheek, before gallivanting out the door. Kirsten soon followed Sandy's route, first grabbing any last minute preparations for her presentation at work, and walked out the door.

"Great, and now my life as I know it is over."

"Seth, its only going to be a few days, 3 at best."

"And they shall be hell Ryan." Ryan rolled his eyes and got up from his seat and emptied his dishes into the sink. "That was a pretty sweet punch still, don't yeah think?"

"Yeah well I guess so, I mean it really was all me taking my frustration with Marissa out on that jerk."

"I know what you mean."

"I really don't know what's up with her…Its like she's a completely different person now, I barely even know her."

"Well if its any consolation, I don't think me and Summer will be reuniting anytime soon." Ryan nodded sympathetically and remained leaned against the cupboards. "She's just waiting for a chance to talk to me in private so she can tell me to leave her the hell alone." Seth lowered his eyes and realization dawned on him, he and Summer really were done.

"What do you think they're up to anyway?" Ryan changed the subject to a less depressing one, but still based solely on their two love interests.

"I don't know man, the usual. Sun tanning and shopping?"

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"1 more hit Riss, come on it won't hurt."

"Seriously guys, I can't I gotta get to school." They all protested and continually proceeded to shove the joint in her face, getting the stench all over her neatly pressed outfit. She exited the smoky room and out the door, rushing to her car. She really had no idea how the hell life led her to where she was at now, rock bottom.

"Marissa, wait!" Just before she closed the car door, she was stopped by a voice. "Look, I'm real sorry about all of that. I know I promised you I wouldn't bring you around during school time, but I really needed you."

"Its alright DJ, I understand, but I've gotta get my life back on track. My mom's already pissed off as it is."

"Hey man." DJ spun around and saw a group of people exit the tiny apartment they had just left. "Our dealer just called up, said he's got 4 g's and he's sellin' cheap, so we gotta jump all over that." DJ pleaded with his eyes for Marissa to understand and she just smiled and nodded dryly. He shut her door and began to dash away to catch up with the rest of the guys. Marissa sighed heavily and leaned her head back against the seat, and closed her eyes. _How did life get so messed up?_ What she really wanted was Ryan.

"Listen Marissa." She was awoken from her thoughts by DJ's voice. "Come back over tonight, we're throwing a party. I want to introduce you to the rest of my friends."

She plastered a fake smile and nodded, before roaring the engine and dashing off to school.

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"Summer! You ready?" A voice echoed through the Robert's mansion, and Summer pranced around frantically in her room. She was running a tad bit later than usual, and was scrambling about, trying to find anything and everything to make herself look presentable. If all went accordingly, today was going to be one of the worst days of her life, aside from her mom leaving and Seth sailing away. She just had a sense about today turning out absolutely disastrous. See, today she was planning on getting everything involving her and Seth out in the open, so they can see where they stand and move on. That was going to most likely turnout ugly. "Summer!"

"Coming!" She hissed down the stairwell. Zach was such an impatient asshole sometimes. She found it funny how after school whenever she would call him time after time to hurry his ass up, he still managed to delay her just so he could brag in front of the whores of Harbor, basically every girl in the school.

Before she rushed out of her room, she swiped up her phone from the night table and dashed out the door, and treaded down the stairs to meet Zach. He was seated on the bench in the foyer, tapping his foot away to some corny song. She assumed she just missed him batting away at his hair in his hand mirror, after it being totally disheveled from the car ride over.

They entered the car, and soon enough they pulled away, in silence, both mad at the other. Summer cursed under her breath and flipped her cell open. The usual, Marissa left 2 or 3 messages, but there was a missed call and voicemail. She hurriedly dialed in her password for her answering machine, and tightly pressed the phone against her ear, blacking out Zach's rant about time conservation in the morning.

**One unanswered message; First Message**

_**H-Hi Summer, its Coh- Uhh…I mean technically Seth since we're not dating anymore…**_ Summer smiled sheepishly and rolled her eyes at Seth's rambling. _**I just wanted to call and apologize for everything that happened yesterday. I know you wanted to talk, and it was real stupid of me to ignore you. But I'm glad to tell you that today after school, I'm all ears, I'll listen to whatever you have to say. I just had to tell you this now, because expect a lot of the same attitude as yesterday from me. Well that's all, so once again sorry…and I lov-**_ Summer listened in intently, as the other line went silent. _**Haha uhhh…what am I doing…**_ She heard him slap the phone against his head and curse._** Oh yeah, umm bye!**_

She snapped the phone shut, still with a smile creased on her lips. Zach was still ranting away about some morning crisis he experience with his hair gel, and Summer was beginning to ponder everything over once more.

It was so strange how Seth was always the one apologizing, even when he never did a single thing wrong, except be a perfect boyfriend. In all rights, it should be her apologizing to him. She never once thought about Seth's feelings when he ran away. No, the only thing that crossed her mind was that Seth abandoned her, which in turn makes him just as bad as her mom. She never once thought of considering Seth's previous life and all of his insecurities, which everyone knew he had. Nope, it automatically turned out to him not being in love with her, or him being tired or bored with her.

In retrospect, Seth did the right thing. He hurt before he could be hurt. It was a relationship move as old as time. He figured that if Ryan left, everything would eventually go back to the way it was before Ryan's arrival, which at the time, he was wrong. But come to think about, how are things now? She speaks about 2 words to him before throwing out an insult, he doesn't talk to Marissa anymore, and he's only got Ryan. So in the end, he really was right. Should he really be punished for being right all along? She still had never got a chance to fully explain herself about the little incident with Zach in her room. She knew he was still hurting inside, but was doing his best to manage.

"-So now I'm really thinking about changing conditioners you know? Change my look up?" Summer shook her head furious, trying to regain focus. Zach was looking anxiously at her for answer to his question on conditioner change.

"Oh right, yeah sounds good." He smiled sheepishly and made a move to peck her on the lips, until he was met with her cheek. She turned away embarrassedly, and he looked at her in shock until the red light ended.

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It was lunchtime, and Seth was chatting away with Ryan down at the pier, at the Crab Shack. Seth opted to forgo school all together, and hangout with Ryan, which consisted all morning of wasted playing PS2 when he could've been at school avoiding Summer, and attempting to get an education.

"You can't avoid her forever."

"I know, but I can at least prolong it." Ryan shook his head and stabbed into his food. "She's basically going to say everything that's wrong with me, then say she's moving on. I'm not ready for that man." The waiter swooped in and slid the bill down on the table slyly, and continued along the narrow walkway. "You know what man, I forgot my wallet…"

"I'll get it…" Ryan groaned and finished off the last bite of his food, and slid out of the booth.

"I got you next time!" Seth semi hollered as Ryan was already headed toward the cashier. Seth waited for Ryan to return, and leaned back in the booth and stretched his arms and legs out. It was then that a flyer was thrown out of nowhere onto the table. He readjusted himself in the seat and gazed down at the flyer, than up in the direction it came from.

"The _Bait Shop_?" Seth read quizzically.

"Yeah its just opening up, so there is an after party tonight."

"But this is yesterdays date…" The girl gave him an annoyed look, and shrugged off his question. He finally gazed up from the flyer and took a real good look at the girl. She wasn't exactly your typical, Newpsie in training. She had raggedy cargo pants on, followed up with a band tee, and her dirty blonde hair didn't look like it had hours of pampering to it like most other women in this town. He saw her tattoo just below her belly button, and several piercing holes scattered on her body. _Yeah, not exactly a Newpsie in Training._ "Oh I'm sorry, my names Seth." He snapped his eyes away from examining her body and extended his hand.

"I didn't ask for your name." She mumbled angrily and continued trudged out of the restaurant, heading down the pier. That girl was definitely like no other he'd ever met before.

"I swear man…" Seth stopped his eyes from following the angered girl out the door, and found Ryan seated back across from him. "I don't understand why you don't carry your wallet around. Your parents can't pay for you forever."

"No, but I can at least soak up every last drop of payment from them as I can." Ryan shook his head and laughed. "Hey I almost forgot, check this out." He handed the flyer across the table over to Ryan. "There is an after party tonight, and we're going to it."

"The _Bait Shop_?" Ryan screwed his eyes together, and burrowed his brows at the name selection of this place.

"That's exactly what I said."

"It says here the opening was yesterday, but the after parties today?" Ryan scratched his chin as he continued reading the flyer.

"Only in Newport can you find an after party for an event a day later."

"Only in Newport." Ryan confirmed as he handed the paper back to Seth.

"We're going man, I don't care what you say."

"Alright, alright but you should get to school. Lunch break is almost over."

"Yes mom."

**Okay, so this chapter is shorter than usual, at least for me. It really was just a lead-on for the next couple chapters. So anyway, Review!**

**(I imagine most of you already know who the girl with the bait shop flyers is..)**


	10. The After Party

**The After Party**

"Would you relax already man, its just a party."

"I can't man I'm a Cohen. We're very emotional people and take everything to heart." Ryan rolled his eyes and smirked as he fixed his gaze out on the open road.

"What's the big deal anyways?" Ryan asked pointedly towards Seth's attire. Ryan had decided to go the traditional wife beater and jeans, followed up with a wrist cuff, while Seth was looking dressed to kill. With a neatly pressed polo and khaki pants.

"Well, I'm going to impress Summer. That's the big deal."

"You have any clue how ridiculous you look right now?"

"I dress like this all the time. You're just noticing now?"

"We're going to an after party for a live music venue. You're going to look out of your element."

"Well that's right in my wheelhouse my friend." Seth studied himself in the passenger side mirror. "Also, Summer won't see it that way. She'll see it as a sweet and romantic gesture."

"Not to be a downer on your plan or anything, but aren't you forgetting one key element?" Ryan shot a brief glance over at Seth to see if he understood him. Seth shook his head continuously, _obviously not. _" Her current boyfriend Zach?"

"He's not her boyfriend." He muttered more to himself, and felt himself beginning to drain out all enthusiasm he had toward his plan. Ryan immediately felt like he was raining on his parade, but knew he had to talk some sense into him. He really was doing him a favor.

"Yeah, right Seth. You only caught her making out with him in her room that one night." Ryan snapped and his voice raised slightly enough that it quieted Seth considerably. Ryan scoffed and laughed with sarcasm dripping off his lips. "Wake up Seth. She's treating you like crap. She sat there and watched you get beat up, ignores you in math, actually wait let me rephrase that, ignores you period, and continues to blame everything on you." Ryan fumed as he stopped at a red light and turned to fully face Seth.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Seth mumbled well below a whisper, and he slouched down in his chair avoiding all eye contact with Ryan.

The red light quickly faded, and he was on his way driving once again. He felt bad for the situation Seth was in, but the way Summer had been treating him since he returned was really starting to get at him. He thought it should be the other way around, Summer being alone and miserable, while Seth was his usual self.

He knew he had to be harsh with Seth, so he could stop him for getting false hope over something that was almost 100 not going to happen. After hearing all of the stories about Summer from Seth on her reaction to him coming back, he felt Seth was better off alone. There wasn't a shot in hell Ryan could look at Summer and not curse under his breath anymore, their friendship or whatever it was when they used to hang out was long gone. Those ships had sailed a while ago.

"Whatever Seth…"

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"You were right Coop, this party really is off the chain." Zach nodded in admiration outward at the crowd of dancing drunks and made his way down the spiral staircase to the dance floor. He had just arrived with Summer, and his entourage of water polo playing followers.

"Wait a sec, did he just call me Coop? Because no offence it just sounds wrong when he says it."

"Sorry about that, I'll have to smack some sense into him later."

"Oh well, I guess it was the same way when Seth used to say it right?" Summer smiled and nodded as her and Marissa leaned over the railway that overlooked the dance floor. The Bait Shop was alive and kicking, the place was literally the perfect advocate for a teen hangout that Newport had been missing up until now.

Her body moved back and forth to the music as her and Marissa continued to stare out at the crowd and survey the party. Her mind quickly raced to Seth, and whether or not he'd show up. As usual, she didn't no what terms they were on, or if they were on any at all.

She knew that he deserved an explanation for her behavior recently, and that he was most likely fed up with her actions. No doubt Ryan was helping to push the envelope farther, and was trying his best to keep him away from her. She no longer trusted Ryan like she used to, and didn't see that changing anytime soon in the future.

"Yo Riss." Marissa shot her head sideways and saw a small opening between some curtains where there appeared to be a tiny room for a hangout. A hand waved her over and she immediately knew who it was.

"Uhh Sum, I've gotta go. I got something to do." She quickly sprang away from the tiny brunette without even hearing her response and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Summer was now left alone. Her supposed boyfriend on the dance floor grinding into some blonde bimbo, and the one boy she felt the strongest for nowhere to be found. She wasn't too upset to see Zach out there flirting with every D cup hoe he could find, she was more pissed off at everything else he had done up to that point.

It was _his_ fault when Seth walked in on them kissing, it was _his_ fault they were even together in the first place. She still hadn't got a chance to explain everything to Seth, the kiss and her behavior as of late. If only he had stayed a bit longer that one faithful night when he caught Zach kissing her, he would've seen her reaction to it and how unwanted it truly was.

Seth was helping speed the healing process up by avoiding her at school either. She was trying to fix things up between them, and he was running away. It was almost as if he was scared to find out exactly what she had to say. Why did he always assume the worst?

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"Didn't I tell you this place would be awesome?"

"You might've." Ryan stated dryly as he and Seth made their way through the main entrance and into the tightly congested teen club. The music was blasting, and it appeared everyone was having a good time. He wasn't as interested in being there as much as Seth was, but figured he would make the best out of it to make his best friend/ brother happy.

"Well, I'll be off to patch things up with Summer. Later man." Seth smiled cheerfully and dashed away before Ryan could throw his input in on how wrong things were going to turn out. He felt like he was the bearer of bad news, but he was really just looking out for him. He knew if Summer did another wrong move, it would crush him for good and it would be luck just to get him out of the house. Seth just didn't realize how much him getting shunned by Summer would inevitably effect him.

He leaned onto the railway just in front of the main entrance, and spotted Summer doing likewise except on the other side of the room. His blood boiled and anger soon took him over when he saw Zach sneak up from behind her and surprise her. His hands began to dig into the firm railing that was supporting him. _This couldn't turn out well._ To the left, he spotted Seth happy as could be; with a huge grin plastered on his lips as he made his way through a pileup of sweaty dancing bodies to get to Summer. He knew he had to stop him before it was too late.

He turned and swung his arms loosely, flailing his hands through the air. Unbeknownst to him, was the fact that there was someone behind him. His hand struck the girl directly in the back of the head, she groaned and turned to face the attacker.

"Ow…" She bellowed melodramatically and Ryan stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard the tone of the voice.

"I am so sorry…I honestly didn't mean to do that." He stared at the girl and looked her up and down. She was just about the same height as him, give or take a few inches. She was a red head, and her hair ranged down to about her shoulders.

"Is this how all new visitors get treated around here…" She hisses as she rubbed continually at the back of her head and glared at Ryan. His nerves got the better of him, and he started to tremble with his words. The girl was a new kind of beautiful to him, she was gorgeous in her own way.

"Yeah…No, no they don't, and I'm so sorry about that…Ryan Atwood." He extended his hand and smiled frantically as she continued to shoot daggers at him with her eyes.

"Lindsay Gardiner, and I hope smacking me in the head wasn't some sort of pickup attempt, because you're in serious need of some assistance." She smiled warmly at him, and for the first time, shaking his hand. He relaxed considerably and his initial thought of saving Seth from being shut down was thrown completely out the window.

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"Summy…whats up?" Zach smiled goofily and grinned as his hands made their way around her waist and he stood behind her. Summer mumbled something incoherently that came out as more of an insult for breaking her serious concentration on Seth Cohen than a welcoming greeting.

"What do you want?" She uttered dryly as Zach buried his face into her shoulder and continued to ramble on about absolutely nothing. They had been there about an hour, and already she knew he was drunk.

"What do you think girl? You." His hands roamed from settling on her waist to up her shirt. He grazed her stomach and began extending his hand further up.

"Really? I thought earlier you wanted that blonde with the stuffed bra." She snarled and smacked at his hand.

"What…That's all nonsense babe." He reassumed his position underneath her shirt and began ravishing away roughly at her bra. Summer smacked his hand harder this time, causing him to pull out at lightning speed.

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"_Summer, I know we haven't had much time to talk recently, and the main reason is because of me. But I'm here to tell you that I'm done being scared, and I'm ready to face anything…with you."_ Seth smiled, satisfied with his devised plan to woo Summer, and continued to make his way through the flurry of bodies. He had been talking quietly to himself, randomly throwing out cheesy lines he knew that would help win Summer over.

"_I know you might have other plans, but I just want you to know that I don't want to be without you. Nothing feels right without you, that's the reason Portland never worked out. I couldn't be there and function properly without you there to smack me whenever I'm out of line._" His thoughts swirled around Summer and what he was going to say.

"_It might take some time for you to trust me again, but I want you to know that I'll wait for as long as you want…" _He broke free from a more congested part of the crowd, and got a clear view of Summer. She was all alone, just staring out at the dance floor.

"_But I'm just going to go ahead and say, Summer Roberts I lov-_" He came to a halt about 10 feet away from her when he saw Zach approach her from behind and wrap his arms around her. "_love you_…" His voice cracked as he watched on, and felt his heart being tugged at, most likely the motion of it being ripped out. He lost all color in his face, and his eyes were quickly glistened with a glassy, wet substance dribbling down. He definitely didn't see this coming. 

He remained frozen on the spot, he saw Zach's hands snake their way from her waist and up her shirt. His last hurrah attempt to salvage his relationship with Summer was officially ruined.

Summer continually denied Zach any access to her body, seeing as he was drunk and she just didn't feel right giving herself away to him. She turned fully around to face him, and he thrust his groin into hers. She was taken back at her first, but quickly shook off all the flusters when she turned her head to the left and saw Seth standing all alone gazing at her with hurt eyes.

"Oh my god, Seth." She uttered quietly and brushed Zach off of her. Seth smiled weakly as tears glistened his eyes. His smile completely faded by the time he turned around and began walking off in the direction of the exit.

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"Marissa come on, one hit won't do you no harm." DJ pleaded with his hands as he and his friends passed the joint around. She never would have thought life would steer her in this direction after Ryan left at the beginning of summer.

"No it's alright guys, I think I should really get going." She smacked the curtains out of the way and walked out into the open of the congested club. She froze instantly when her eyes fell upon Ryan, and he wasn't alone and brooding like she was used to. He was smiling, laughing, and flirting with a red head girl she'd never seen before.

He was smiling for what seemed like the first time in ages, considering every time she saw him look at her, he was either frowning or just generally showing his dislike for her. And Seth and Summer had problems of their own, they didn't have time for her. Seth sure as hell didn't have time for her. She watched as the aforementioned brunettes raced across her field of view, Seth storming off batting away at his eyes, while Summer chased after him.

" Get going? Where? To him…" DJ whispered calmly into her ear before returning back to his other friends and shutting the curtains. Marissa took one last look at Ryan and the mystery red head, before retreating back into the smoke filled room.

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"Cohen, would you just…Stop!" She hollered and he came to a halt just outside the main entrance. He kept his gazed fixed outward at the calm ocean, and waited for him to catch up to him.

"What do you want from me?"

"I just want to talk."

"Why don't you go and talk to Zach? I'm sure he's interested." He replied angrily, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Cohen, you have no right to talk to me like that."

"What you said you wanted to talk right!" He turned and faced her, exasperated. "And right now I'm afraid this the only way I'll be able to talk to you."

"Zach's my boyfriend. He was the one that was there for me after you ran off like a little bitch and left me with nothing. He was there." She stated, trying to reassure herself that Zach was indeed her boyfriend.

"See this is why I left. You got a funny way of showing how hurt you are Summer. I take off, a week later you've got a new man crawling all over you, you're happy again, and I still feel like shit for breaking up with you." Seth hollered back, causing nearby pedestrians to turn and see what the big commotion was. He was staring eagerly at Summer, and she was avoided his gaze. But he could see from the moon's reflection the tears shimmering on her cheeks.

"Everything would've been fine if you never left." She spat back.

"Right, everything is my fault. Yet again. Did you ever once stop and think about my feelings, instead of being so self-absorbed? Its funny, all those times you used to say I was full of myself. I mean, look how easy it was for you to go out and replace me, you didn't even think twice about getting a new boyfriend." She went quiet, and lowered her head as she listened on. " And the cherry on top of a perfect summer break is when I come back only to see you making out with Zach. You ignore me during class, laugh at me while I get the shit kicked out of me, then expect after all of that, that I'll still be a little love sick puppy obsessing over you. Well guess what Summer, I was, but now I just don't think its worth it anymore."

Summer remained quiet and rubbed her hands up and down her arms to try and regain warmth. She felt shivers roam up her spine, and they continued when she saw Seth storming away towards his car. She watched him as he went into the back and pulled something out, and to her delight she came back to her.

"Here…" He offered one of his cover-up sweatshirts and tossed it over to her. Summer smiled and wiped away any signs of tears so she could show him she was genuinely happy. Seth was a good guy, even if he said he didn't care, she knew he always would. Or at least she hoped he would. She didn't want to ever lose him, he was just too good to be true. He nodded dryly and rolled his eyes.

"I won't be mad for too long Sum, don't worry. I want you to go out, be happy with Zach, and I'll just have to manage." He smiled weakly averted his eyes behind her. _Happy with Zach, yeah there's something to look forward to_

"What's going on out here?" Zach walked over and stood in between the vast gap between Seth and Summer. He looked at Summer and saw her tear stained face, and the frown pierced on her lips and came to his own conclusion. "Did you hurt her again queer?"

"Zach, no he didn't." Summer was quick to jump to his defence, and that irked him even more. Zach marched over to Seth and confronted him, he stood tall over top of him and gazed angrily down at him. Seth smirked and waved at him.

"Seth man, you ready to go? We gotta give Lindsay a ride home…" Ryan called, dragging Lindsay along in toe. He saw Seth give him a pleading look, and saw Zach shoving him around. Zach's water polo entourage all snickered as they watched the evens unfold.

"Zach don't." Summer commanded but it was no use. He continually shoved Seth, causing him to stumble and nearly crash down to the ground. Ryan took this as his cue, and abandoned Lindsay at the door and rushed to Seth's defence.

"Hey leave him alone." He barked, and stood between Zach and Seth. Seth was busy rearranging himself, and Summer unknowingly rushed to his side and began to drill questions at him to see if he was okay. Seth smiled, knowing exactly what was happening, he knew later it would be a miracle to get Summer to even utter his name, especially after tonight. He basically put the final nail in the coffin that was their relationship. She clearly had no interest in him, and decided to completely let go of her, or at least return to his old ways of stalking from the shadows.

"I saw what you did to Norlund at school the other day, that was pretty weak man."

"Yeah you want the same to happen to you?" Ryan grunted and clutched his fists. Zach scoffed and pointed behind him to the bevy of water polo player's itching to rip apart both Seth and himself.

"Come on man, let's go." Seth loosely put an arm around Ryan's shoulder and guided him toward the car park.

"You heard the geek, get going." Anger quickly boiled over him, and he tried to shake free of Seth's grip, but he held firmly and continued to guide them toward the car park. He absolutely hated everything to do with Newport, it all seemed so fake to him now after spending time in Chino. What he hated more was the fact that kids continued to pick on Seth, and still hadn't grown out of it. So whenever he heard someone call him a geek or a loser, he always felt obliged to return to his old fighting days in Chino. It was the least he could do for the Cohen's, after everything they've down for him, he could at least try and protect their only son from all the mockery and name-calling that was Newport Beach.

Summer was the last one remaining outside. Even after Zach's countless persuasions to head back inside, she kept her ground and continued to watch Seth and Ryan descend into the dark night on the pier, and watched their car roll out of the car park. She and Seth had finally reached a decision. He apparently was okay with her relationship with Zach, though he used plenty of negative comments to portray it. Ending all ties with him was the last thing she wanted, but she figured she got what was coming considering all of the crap she put him through.

She was now more determined than ever to try and win Seth's affections back and show him she could _still_ be everything he wanted, and more.

**A new love interest for Seth? Is it Summer? Who knows? Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Review**


	11. Paint The Silence

**Paint The Silence**

"Get up man, its morning."

"Thanks tips..." Seth groaned and pulled the blankets up to cover his face, but it was short-lived as Ryan ripped the blankets off; handing him a coffee in return.

"Suddenly, not so mad that I'm suspended."

"Wow, how did you ever string that many words together this early? Are you feeling okay?" Seth wiped the sleep out of his eyes, and groggily sat up and took the coffee Ryan was holding for him. "That Lindsay sure is working wonders isn't she?"

"Well, you know…" Ryan couldn't help but smile.

"When is your next romantic rendezvous?"

"I don't know man, last time I saw her was at the party, she told me she went to Harbor…" He finished sourly, and lowered his head at the realization that he couldn't see her.

"Oh, well now it suddenly seems someone _is_ mad that they're suspended."

"Its not that. I mean, I barely even know her, and the first thing she finds out about me is that I'm suspended. She'll think I'm trouble."

"Well dude, you kind of are…" Ryan grunted and narrowed his eyes at him. "I-I mean, what, you? T-That's impossible, you're the nicest, most talkative person I know…" Seth smiled nervously, and it was met with a smirk from Ryan. "But don't worry, your secrets safe with me. I'll protect your dignity!"

"There's something to look forward too…"With that, Ryan trudged out the door, an incredulous Seth hollering back at him.

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"Coop?" The girl stopped on a whim.

"Sum?" Marissa stated confusedly, as her best friend trudged across the school courtyard to catch up with her. "What are you doing here this early?"

"Same could be said for you." The two girls stared each other down, desperately trying to figure the other out.

"Ummm…" Marissa eyed her surroundings, seeking a descent excuse. "I'm looking for Mrs.Webster, got a paper to hand in." Marissa reverted her attention to the shorter, feistier brunette who seemed less talkative than usual. "You looking for your boy toy so you can mess around with him more?"

"Actually no, I was hoping to find Cohen so we could talk."

"You still haven't talked to him about everything? I thought that was the whole point about going to the party last Friday?"

"No, no we talked…it didn't go particularly well. He claimed that he was cool with everything, but used a lot of _descriptive_ words to show it."

"Well now's your chance, he's here." Summer froze at the mention of him, and turned to face the direction Marissa was pointing in.

"Oh god, on second thought I can't do this." She watched as he remained seated in the car, chatting away with Ryan. "I'm coming with you Maris-." She turned to face the lankier and skinnier of the two girls, but she was already gone; bolting up the stairs leading to the main walkway in a hurry.

She sighed heavily, all concern for Marissa immediately thrown out the door, and her focus was back on the scrawny geek that somehow still had a hold on her heart. She set off towards him.

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"Come on man, we can hang out at the pier like we did last week." Seth reasoned as he opened the door, and stepped out of the Range Rover. He shut the door, but remained on the spot and peaked back into the vehicle through the window.

"Seth quit making excuses, you've got to face her sometime." Ryan immediately locked the doors, the sharp noise of them locking sent Seth through a phase of worry.

"Why do that, when I can delay it for as long as possible." He repeatedly pulled on the handle to open the door, but Ryan wasn't budging.

"How do you know she's mad at you?"

"I don't know, it could be the evil looks she fired at me all weekend whenever I ran into her around town, that's a possibility."

"What looks? We saw her once down at the pier, and she was gasping after spilling coffee on her leg."

"Trust me man, just open the door and we can leave."

"Or how about you be a man and face her…now would be perfect." Ryan pointed behind Seth's head and he immediately tensed up and squinted his eyes in preparation. He turned on a whim, and was instantly hit with the sensational feeling of seeing Summer; he always got that feeling, no matter what terms they were under.

"Oh boy…"He muttered under his breath as Summer stopped on the curb to allow a car to pass, shielding her from Seth's gaze momentarily. He had already succumbed to the magnificent view of her, all hope had been flushed down the drain.

"Ryan dude-." He started, but stopped quickly once he turned and was face to face with the back of the Range Rover, Ryan pulling out of the parking lot; with a smile creased on his lips.

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"Cohen!" Seth closed his eyes and sighed; he was still facing out towards the parking lot entrance where Ryan had so subtlety just vanished from. He turned and was met by the very brunette that had been the cause of his pain and agony since returning.

"Summer! What's up?" He smiled brightly as if they were long lost friends. Summer wasn't buying it.

"Cohen, we need to talk."

"We got all of that out of the way last week at the party remember _pal_?" He uttered out, accentuating the word 'pal' to get his feelings out. He didn't meet her gaze; instead finding refuge in looking at the ground. Seth patted her on the shoulder, which was met with a retaliatory smack in the chest.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Summer gripped her Chanel purse a bit tighter, and anxiously tugged on the brim of her shirt. Who would've ever guessed Seth Cohen of all people would be able to send her into these sorts of actions?

"I mean, uhh yeah…I guess if this is what you want, I'll have to learn to manage." Summer sighed heavily. This wasn't exactly what she had been expecting when she planned to talk to him.

It was far off actually. Did she _want_ to stay in the relationship she was in with Zach? No, not at all. He wasn't talkative like Seth was, he was plain and boring, opposed to Seth who was strange, but different at the same time.

Maybe he didn't exactly get the point she was getting at. She'd most likely jump back into his arms in a heart beat, but instead was reverting back to her old childish games, and wanted him to prove how _much_ he wanted her back.

She used to say Seth's grand romantic gestures were tiresome and overused, mainly because he used them to get out of trouble instead of actually having a talk. Still, he was the only boy that ever attempted such a thing, and she loved him more for it, cheesiness aside. But she figured cheesiness was all apart of his charm, one that continually made her fall deeper for him.

"You have nothing else to say…this is what you want." He finally looked up to meet her gaze, his eyes telling her everything she needed to know.

"I-I j-just want t-to tell y-you…. how much…-" He choked up, and stopped short of finishing. Summer nodded, trying to persuade him to continue.

"Tell me what." She felt like she was speaking to a child. He definitely didn't seem much like himself anymore, he looked beat down and broken. He was barely functioning, well, less than usual.

"-how much……I'm okay with you and Zach dating, which is a lot. Well look at the time, I'll talk to you some other time Sum; I've got math, can't miss it." He smiled sheepishly and strode away from her in a hurry. She was left standing there, in the empty parking space with a puzzled look on her face. What was up with Seth? He didn't even attempt any of his cheesiness and try to woo her back. It almost seemed like it was the exact opposite, like he didn't want it at all. Or he felt he didn't deserve it.

He _so_ was not okay with it. Any of it for the matter. Everything seemed so messed up, but he felt obliged to allow Summer to make her own decisions, and be happy. Whether that be with him, or with someone else. He'd do whatever she wanted.

He also saw it as a chance to for a new start. A clean slate, he could stop pursuing Summer, and focus on other things. After all, the whole point of pursuing her was just for her to talk to him. Well he did that, and so much more, he dated her, kissed her, hell even lost his virginity to her; as she did with him. That gave her an even more special place in his heart.

His life was looking to be a tad bit bland in the future. Without it revolving around Summer, what was he left with? Not a hell of a lot. He only had Ryan left, and it was looking like he would be busy with Lindsay, getting busy. What would he do without Summer? He never dreamed he'd ever be in this position. He thought once he finally landed the girl, he would be set and never have to look back.

Was he supposed to start fresh completely? Move on from her, and start seeing someone new like she was doing. _No _he seemed nowhere near ready for that, not like how she was doing. She was _the_ Summer Roberts, one does not spend an eternity pining for her just to get over it within weeks. No, he need extensive days of brooding and listening to depressing music. His days seemed to be boring from here on out. _Maybe he could finally start that novel he'd been talking about starting before Ryan came and shook up the town._

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The day flew by smoothly. Seth kept his distance, as usual, from everyone; especially Summer, who chose to keep a close eye on him all day. It didn't go unnoticed to Zach, who actually despised Seth. He hated that a girl like Summer, as attractive as she was, still lusted for a creep like him. _What was so special about Seth freaking Cohen?_

All day, Seth had been left alone to his thoughts. He never opened his mouth, not once all day besides his talk with Summer. His teachers never bothered with him, instead busied themselves with teaching the lessons. It was almost as if Seth didn't even exist, was merely a speck of dirt no one noticed. He didn't dare look at Summer, in fear that she would see right through his "I'm okay with being your friend" scheme he had going.

The end bell rang, signaling the end of sheer torture for the students of Harbor. Hives of them came fluttering out of the somber building with smiles on their faces, all glad to be out of the school and into their shiny new sports cars.

All that remained on the school grounds were the many teams that had practice, and one, Seth Cohen. He drearily trudged out of his last class later than others, asking and receiving an extra credit assignment just so his day would be filled with _something_. He twisted his lock, hitting each number, and snapped it open creating a sharp noise boom through the quiet, empty halls; dying down quickly. After the lock was open, he sighed and grabbed his homework and slowly began to stuff it all into his bag.

The halls were quiet, and he hated it. Silence always made him feel alone, being alone led him to his dwindling thoughts, and his thoughts always ended up further diminishing his already low self-esteem.

He finished up with a new found quicker pace, afraid to be left alone in his lonely head, and paced out the door; revealing the soon-to-be setting California sun. He didn't bother calling Ryan, instead choosing to walk. He had a certain destination he wanted to visit.

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He made it, and a lot quicker than expected. He ended up phoning Ryan anyways, asking for a ride to the pier, and that he wanted to be left alone. Ryan asked no questions, and did as he was told.

That led him to where he was now, gazing out at the ocean, the waves entrancing him by their every motion, and the breeze strong enough to stop him from dozing off right there. He decided to continue on down the pier, and he eventually made it to the end of the boardwalk, in silence of course. Who would be there to keep him company if he wanted any anyways? There was Ryan, but he had just sent him scurrying home; lying and saying he was fine, but wanted to be alone. Any other kids would consider it social suicide to speak to him. There was Summer also, but he couldn't find the courage to talk to her anymore.

Nobody knew, but his self-esteem was at an all time low. He no longer felt worthy to anyone, especially Summer. Summer seemed to be at the route of the problem, but he continued to deny it; he wouldn't let Summer be to blame for his sorrows. She did nothing wrong, except put trust and faith in him; and he screwed up royally.

He spotted a small building on the very end of the boardwalk. The small local, was the same place the party was held at last week, The Bait Shop. He entered the building, and smacked the strangely set curtains aside, revealing the stage below him, with the bright lights set directly on him, but were turned off. His eyes were entranced on the different colored lights seemingly pointing solely on him, but then he was interrupted by a sudden voice.

"Can I help you with anything??" He turned on a whim, and was faced with an extra punkish, for Newport, girl with blonde hair, mixed with black highlights. It was the same girl from the Crab shack last week, the one who handed out the flyers.

"Hey its flyer girl…" She stared confusedly at him, and lowering her clipboard that she been previously been looking at. "I'm Seth Cohen, from the Crab Shack…remember?"

"I didn't ask for your name." She said disgustedly, than carried on down the spiral stairwell, fixed back on her clipboard.

"Hey, you used that one last week too…"

"I did, how about get lost?"

"That's no way to treat a customer…or a visitor in this case, seeing as your little cabana you got running here isn't exactly a store, you don't sell much beside band tee's, which I assume don't get much sales…-"

"Are you going to get something, or are you just going to keep insulting my shop?" She stated as she came to the bottom of the stairs, and turned to face Seth who was busy looking down so he wouldn't trip on the narrow stairwell. He came to the end, and caught a glimpse of the angered expression on her face, and quickly searched the area for something to get him out of this jam he had created.

"How about a drink?" He offered, as he spotted the circular bar positioned in the middle of the dancefloor. She rolled her eyes, and motioned for him to follow.

"What do you want?"

"Anything to keep me from thinking about how terrible my life is…"

"What's so terrible about it? Surfing all day, driving around in your parents' BMW's, going to fashion shows…" She smiled smugly, as she poured him a mixed drink, finding interest in this boy's misfortune. She loved when the Newport elite fell and came rambling about how bad their lives were; meanwhile, the actual problem being their parent's bought them a corvette instead of the preferred viper.

"Ha…I've surfed, what maybe once, my parents don't even have beamers and fashion shows are hell." She laughed, causing Seth to grin briefly in return. She finished making the drink, settling with orange juice and vodka, and began to hand the drink over.

"Wait, you're not a narc are you?" She eyed him up and down, she didn't want no lawsuit about giving drinks to minors.

"No, I'm just in dire need of something to ease my pain." She smirked, and decided he was an okay guy, and handed the drink over.

He quickly took a sip, and the alcohol sent a quick buzz through his body at the first sip. He felt the need for more, and quickly swigged it down rather harshly, startling the girl.

"So what's your name anyways…" He smiled and wiped off any remains of the substance from his mouth.

"Whys it so important…" He narrowed his eyes and grinned, causing her to laugh.

"Fine…Alex."

"Does Alex have a last name?"

"Don't push your luck buddy."

"Fine, fine, I'll take my battles as they come."

The rest of the evening flew by, Seth stayed at the Bait Shop until closing time, he stayed at the bar and chatted away with Alex, through the local live band that they'd had play. His drink selections had changed considerably. He didn't even want the orange juice anymore, instead settling for pure vodka. It escalated to the point, where Seth was now, drunk and completely alive.

**Okay so what'd you think? And oh yeah, in this one Alex actually _does_ prefer bad boys so you can see where its headed. Also Seth will have to fight loneliness and depression, because his breakup with Summer affects him more than anyone will know. Its circled around Seth, but i'll try to include as much of both of them as I can.**

**Review**


	12. Waking Up to a New Life

**First update in a lonnnnnnnnng time. May not be that good but I plan on getting back to normal for my other fics. Thanks and enjoy.**

Waking up To a New Life 

"Seth, wake up…" Ryan leaned against Seth's doorframe out in the hall and waited for a response.

"Errrmmhh."

"Get up man I got to take you to school." He quickly grew fed up with waiting in the hall and finally opened the door.

"I doooont waaaanna errrrmh."

"God, are you even alive?" Ryan entered the room and found Seth lying flat on his stomach with a pillow covering his head. "Wake up man, time for school."

"Yay…" Seth finally responded with a coherent reply and stretched his arms and legs out. "Dude it's the weekend, give me a break."

"No, it was the weekend the past two days…which you spent sleeping and out doing god knows what…where have you been anyway? I haven't seen you in 3 days."

"I've just been hanging out."

"With who? Captain Oats?"

"Actually no, but good guess. I was just hanging out with some friends." Ryan furrowed his brow and continued to stare at Seth. Not to 'salt his game' or whatever, but when did Seth ever have friends?

"Well anyways, you should probably go talk to Sandy and Kirsten. They've been more worried than I have."

"Yes, and I can tell that you certainly have been worried… Your digs at me and the Captain this morning has been real _touching_."

"Whatever man, just hurry the hell up. I'm losing sleep because of you."

"Yes, mom."

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Seth moaned and than slowly began to trudge over to the door to head for the shower. Despite the compulsive pounding in his head, he managed to open his bedroom door, and peak out into the hallway. He was immediately hit with a blinding light from the sun, and shielded his eyes. The instant sensation gave him a good reminder to avoid doing whatever the hell he was doing last night. Which to this point, he wasn't quite sure what it was. He had no recollection of much of the past weekends events, only the sign of a splitting headache convinced him that it must not have been very 'Seth Cohen'-like.

He finally made it to the bathroom, and turned to view himself in the mirror. He looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes; they were all droopy and dark looking. Any other time he would've just chalked it up as once again he got his ass kicked, but there was no sign of any swelling. He stepped away from the mirror, and made his way over to the shower and started it up. It was then that he realized he still had on his clothes from last night. He reached into his jean pocket and found his cell phone, and flipped it open.

There were a few missed calls, most likely from his parents wondering where he had been last night, but as he scrolled through his phone he found a few pictures from last night. One of the pictures was of him with his arm wrapped around an extra-punkish girl, who he couldn't quite seem to remember. There were a few others also, but all the people in them he had no idea who they were.

He scratched his head, and continued to get undressed, and finally entered the shower and welcomed the sensation of cold water. Just what he needed.

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The car ride to school was silent thus far. A little too awkward for Ryan, and he figured Seth must've been going insane just in anticipation to say something and break this silence. He looked over to the passenger seat, and surprisingly Seth was sitting quietly with his chair leaned back and his eyes shut, almost as if he was relishing in the silence.

Ryan finally had enough, as the car came to a halt at a stop sign, and looked over at Seth to try and get his attention. "Okay Seth, this is too weird even for you?"

"What? I don't see the problem."

"You're not talking."

"I thought my talking was the problem before, now I'm not talking and it's a problem?" Seth shot him a quizzical look and scratched his head. "Geez man, make up your mind."

"I just think it's strange that you're not off babbling about your lady drama or your crazy plots to get Summer back."

"Well Ryan, A) there currently is no lady drama for me right now, and its actually crystal clear for once, and B) being crystal clear of any lady drama equals no plots to get Summer…" Ryan just stared at him blankly as if it was a joke.

"You're kidding me." Ryan just continued to stare as if someone died. Seth nodded, and began to get a bit antsy under Ryan's stare. What did the guy want from him? Trouble and drama don't always revolve around him. Is it that shocking that his life is stable for once?

He looked up at Ryan, who was gearing up to continue probing for the truth; Seth decided it was about that time to find an excuse to get out of this excruciating conversation. "Uhh Ryan, you can go now." He pointed out to the road and Ryan too finally realized that they had been stopped at the stop sign for well over 2 minutes. His face turned a stark red, and Seth started to snicker only to be met by the famous Atwood grunt. They continued on down the road, in silence.

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As soon as they arrived, Seth hopped out of the car and Ryan just as quickly sped out of the parking lot. That was by far the most awkward and bizarre conversation the two had ever had, even worse than the very first time they met in the Cohen living room.

Seth slowly began to trudge toward the school. He wasn't worried about the fact Ryan was _still_, or he wasn't nervous about a possible confrontation with Summer. For once, he was just _genuinely_ tired. It actually felt kind of nice having a clean slate and a fresh mind. He had apparently come to terms with his relationship with Summer over the weekend, but had no recollection of it but just decided to go with it. He could tell he must've been pretty upset with her and everything had been going on over the weekend because he scrolled his phone and found that he had erased her number from his contact list and deleted all but 1 of the photos of the two of them together on his phone. The one he _did_ keep he would never be able to erase, no matter how out of it he was.

It was a simple picture, one that he could recall Summer whining to him numerous amounts of times to erase it. She always claimed that she looked ugly in any picture taken of her when wasn't aware, but it was photos such as this one that would never fail to bring a wave of flashbacks over him. Summer had fallen asleep during a movie at his house, and he remember that as soon as it ended, he turned the movie off and decided to just stare at her; one of his favorite pastimes. He never got the opportunity to do that when she was awake, she would find it just plain creepy. He finally found the strength to leave his comfortable spot on the bed and grabbed his phone on her desk, and took a picture.

This picture was one of the last ones he ever took of her, as it also happened to be the last night they spent together. That night, it was almost as if self-consciously he knew their relationship was coming to an end.

He viewed the picture one last time and sighed, than snapped his phone shut and continued on towards the school. He trudged up the stairs, receiving brief flashbacks from last week when he and Ryan went sprinting down this very stairwell fleeing from the pack of razorblade endorsing water polo players.

He reached the top, and was met with two strange occurrences. The first, his phone was actually ringing, the second, someone actually _attempted_ to go through with calling him, and it wasn't his parents or Ryan. This must be a record day, unless it was a prank call, which he had received many before.

"Hello…" he answered a bit uneasy; after all it was an unknown caller.

"Sethy!" he recognized the voice, and smiled. Now he remembered who that blonde with about 4 other different hair colors in his picture was.

"Alex! I thought I told you not to call me that."

"Oh shut up don't be such a dork." He couldn't help but smile, she was exactly like Summer. He found her insults quite attractive, but the only difference was that with Summer he was at least a little certain that it was mostly kidding. With Alex, he wasn't sure if she was joking or being serious.

"You know you love that about me."

"Don't flatter yourself…listen, you wanna hang out tonight at the Bait Shop? I decided to cover for Mikey tonight and a pretty great local band is playing. I was thinking we could do pretty much the same thing we did all weekend if you want." Seth scratched his head at this and decided to get out of the way of the pathway so he would stop blocking the oncoming students. He settled underneath a tree to the left of the courtyard and tried to concentrate on what the hell she was talking about.

"Umm that sounds great, but only one question, what exactly was it that we did all weekend?" He heard her giggle on the other end, and smiled.

"You're kidding me? You don't remember?"

"No, I don't. I'm still recovering from the weekend actually." This time was more of a snickering laugh.

"Oh my god, you are such a lightweight. I was fine like an hour after you left on Sunday." She laughed again, and Seth just blushed, knowing she couldn't see. "Well, how about this…come by later tonight and I'll refresh you're memory on what happened."

"You got it."

"Okay I got to go."

"Alright…by-." He started, but was met with a dial tone. He snapped his phone shut, and began to ponder about what she was talking about. _Whatever it was, it HAD to have been good_.

"Cohen!" that high-pitched call could be recognized from just about anywhere, and he knew exactly who it belonged to. He turned on a whim, and cursed himself for once again being mesmerized by her beauty, he couldn't help it that his jaw slightly dropped and his eyes seemed permanently focused on her. She looked gorgeous as always. Even though to her, she probably thought she had on casual wear or 'just-threw-this-together' clothes.

Summer approached the boy by the tree, and started smirking once she saw Seth's reaction. She was only making her way over to see how he was doing, and maybe just _maybe_ ask about what it was he was smiling about earlier.

Okay, that's a lie. It was the reason she was making her way over. She had been watching him like a hawk ever since he stepped foot out of the range rover. She watched him talking on the phone, and the second she saw him smile she began to panic. It was safe to say over the course of the last time they spoke, which was at the Bait Shop after party; she had gone a _little_ bit out of control. She worked on a scrapbook of all the fun times from last year, and more importantly her time with Seth, and arranged the photos in proper order. Heck, she even worked on it once with Zach over.

And when she wasn't at home driving herself mad, she was thinking about all the possible scenarios that could happen between now and the future. Her theories always received devastating blows whenever she thought about their conversation at the beach with him storming off, the time he said he didn't even give a shit about her anymore, or even her angry screaming match with Ryan.

This much she did know though, he was apparently okay with her going out with Zach and wasn't going to keep fighting for her…which she _had_ to change.

"Hey Cohen." She stopped just in front of him and clutched her Chanel purse tightly over her shoulder. Seth just nodded and smiled nervously.

"Howdy." She narrowed her eyes and just shook it off. She didn't come all the way over here to question him about his bizarre 'hello' method.

"How are you doing?"

"Ahhhh you know…been better." She smiled sympathetically, and instantly chalked up how he was feeling as a result of her.

"Yeah I haven't been too good either."

"Umm that's nice…listen Sum I really got to get going, calculus test that I can't fail." He smiled and attempted to bolt towards the courtyard.

"Oh no you don't, you're staying here and you're _actually_ going to talk to me." She stuck a weak free hand, which sent Seth firing backward and to the ground. He sat up and peered upward at her.

"So you're saying that me talking to you is more important than an education?" He peered up at her and squinted his eyes.

"Well at this point, yes." He rolled his eyes and she glared down at him. "Since you've been avoiding me ever since the Bait Shop party and whenever we _do_ run into each other, you ignore me. Where have you been anyways?"

"What does it matter to you? I'm not your boyfriend anymore. You don't need to worry about me." He spat bitterly, and received an intense glare from Summer, which put him back in his place. "Well umm I've been busy."

"Oh that's nice…" She kneeled down and sat on her knees, eye level with him once again. "Listen Seth, I know we haven't had much time to talk about…well everything…and I just wanted say…-"

"Sum, baby you ready? I'll walk you to class." Zach stood behind her and glared down at Seth, one in which he returned. Summer sighed and once again cursed herself for having Zach as a boyfriend.

"Umm yeah I'm ready…" She stood up from the grass as Zach began to lead her away by the hand. Seth just remained seated on the grass and watched the two walk away until they were no longer visible.

Sorry about the lack of updates for all of my stories…and I decided to write this one first because I felt the most motivated to write this one. I plan on updating all of my stories very shortly before school starts up again. I also hope this one was okay, I am a little rusty. I haven't been writing anything at all for about 2 and a half months, but I plan to get back into after the break.

Anyways I hope it was okay and please review. It will really help me continue to write for OC fics and give me motivation : ) ty

Review!


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